BX 1 

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LIBRARY OR CONGRESS. 

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flpjp* ©0ptjrigl;i 3J)xu 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



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THE 



TENNESSEE EVANGELIST 



A SERIES OF TES" SERMONS 



- BY S 

ASHLEY S. JOHNSON 

/ 7 n 



' Preach the word." " Do the work of an evangelist."— Paul. 




CINCINNATI 
STANDARD PUBLISHING COMPANY 
1886 



Copyright, 1886, by 
ASHLEY 8. JOHNSON. 



PREFACE. 



" And Jesus came and ^^^imtO"ll^Q^ saying, All 
power is given unto me in ^^y^n^arLolJff dearth. Go ye 
therefore, and teach all n^tjons,Tbaptizing them into the 
name of the Father, n 1 rrT" "dim 1 in^^u i of the Holy 
Spirit : teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I 
have commanded you : and lo, I am with you alway, 
even unto the end of the world " (Matt, xxviii. 18-20). 

" And he said unto 'them, Go ye into alL the world, 
and preach the gospel to every creature. He that 
believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that 
believeth not shall be damned" (Mark xvi. 15, 16). 

" Thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to 
suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: and that 
repentance and remission of sins should be preached in 
his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem, and 
ye are witnesses of these things" (Luke xxiv. 46-48). 

" Receive ye the Holy Spirit : whosesoever sins ye 
remit, they are remitted unto them : and whosesoever 
sins ye retain, they are retained" (John xx. 22, 23). 

Inquire within. 



CO 



CONTENTS. 



Sermon. Page. 
I. The Bible Its Own Interpreter 9-24 

II. The Revelation of God 25-47 

III. The Fall and Restoration 48-71 

IV. The Regeneration 72-97 

V. The Word of Reconciliation 98-118 

VI. The New Birth 119-138 

VII. Conversion 139-154 

VIII. The Likeness and Image of God 155-170 

IX. Disobedience 171-187 

X. God Is, and Our Relation to Him 188-200 



THE TENNESSEE EVANGELIST. 



SERMON I. 

THE BIBLE ITS OWN INTERPRETER. 

Text: " Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a work- 
man that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word 
of truth ; but shun profane and vain babblings, for they will in- 
crease unto more ungodliness " (II. Tim. ii. 15, 16). 

The Bible is conceded to be the oldest, the grandest, 
and the most wonderful book in the world ; and yet no 
book is so much neglected, so badly treated, so care- 
lessly read, or made responsible for so much that is false, 
delusive and destructive. It is said to be the will of 
God ; but its friends, its apparent friends — its enemies, in 
fact— do not hesitate to use it as a book that is devoid of 
system, plan or arrangement ; and they therefore conclude 
that one part is as good as another for this dispensation, and 
profess to find the way of salvation in the Law of Moses, 
the Prophets, or the Psalms, as well as in the New Tes- 
tament. Inasmuch as it is all true, I can learn my 
duty, what I must do to be saved from my sins^ in Prov- 
erbs, or Daniel, as well as I can in John or Acts ! It is 
all good for me^ and I must, therefore, receive each part, 
each of the distinct and separate books of which it is 
composed, without any effort to discover when, by whom, 
or for what purpose, they were written ! This view of the 
Bible is prevalent among many who pretend to be 



10 



SERMON I. 



orthodox Christians. It does not matter to them when 
it was written, or whether it was intended for Jew or 
Gentile, for patriarch or prophet, for apostle or evangel- 
ist, for saint or sinner, for the Old Testament times or 
the New Testament times ; they proceed on their journey 
rejoicing, as they say, in the hope of heaven, when they 
have no definite idea of the plan of salvation made 
known through Jesus Christ and the twelve apostles, or 
the relation this plan sustains to antecedent ages of the 
world. 

What is the cause of this confusion? Where does it 
originate? Who is accountable to God? In my hum- 
ble judgment, the difficulty lies in this : A great many 
people read the Bible ; very few people study it. A 
great many read it for present or temporary benefit; 
very few read it in order to (i keep in memory " that 
which it contains. A great many people receive it as a 
" tale that is told very few meditate upon its teaching 
day and night. A great many scholars and critics strive 
to interpret the Bible; very few, alas ! how few, permit it 
to interpret itself. The advocates of denominational 
Christianity attempt to sectarianize it or bend it to their 
way of thinking, and very few of them are ready and 
willing to acknowledge the supremacy of divine truth in 
all things, or bend their systems, their creeds, to its de- 
mands. Large numbers of professing Christians declare 
their allegiance to it, yet deny it by their works. Thus 
the Bible is murdered, traduced, destroyed in the house 
of its friends. 

Does the Bible interpret itself, explain itself, or submit 
a harmonious or coherent system of doctrine or teaching? 
If not, it is impossible for all men to understand it alike. 
Can we learn what to do in order to the forgiveness of 



THE BIBLE ITS OWh INTERPRETER. 



1 1 



sins under the reign of Christ, away back in the visions, 
voices and revelations intended only for patriarchal 
times ? If so, why did the Lord burden the world with 
sixty-six books, when our duty is clearly revealed in the 
book of Genesis? If we can learn what to do to be 
saved in the Old Testament, we have no special use for 
the New Testament. Of this there can be no doubt. 
Where did the plan of salvation originate? In the love 
or mind of God. The Bible is the revelation of this 
plan, and it contains sixty-six chapters, or books; Gen- 
esis is the first, the Revelation is the last. The Bible 
takes hold of its Author, and extends from the dawn of 
history to the end of time. Exodus throws more light 
upon the unfolding purpose of God than Genesis, and 
Leviticus throws more light upon it than Exodus ; in 
other words, each book interprets or explains the one or 
all that precede it. Genesis contains the first intimation 
of the purpose of God in the redemption of men, and it 
broadens with each successive chapter or book until we 
reach the law and the Levitical priesthood, the cross of 
Christ, the twelve apostles, the great commission, the 
gospel in its fullness, the Church of Jesus Christ, the 
epistolary writings; and at last the Revelation of Jesus 
Christ, lifts us into the everlasting city of God. Genesis 
begins with man in darkness; the promise, like the stars 
of heaven, shined far away ; the law of Moses, like the 
moon, shadowy, imperfect, prophetic ; the gospel the 
glory of the " Sun of righteousness " (Mai. iv. 21) ; the 
home of the people of God, where they need no light of 
the sun nor of the moon, for the glory of God will 
lighten it fand the Lamb will be the light thereof (Rev. 
xxi. 23). The unfolding of the plan and the intellect- 
ual development of the people proceeded together, and 



12 



SERMON I. 



each period of development was the product of every- 
thing before it. You may investigate it from Genesis 
forward, or from the Revelation backward, and in either 
case you can not fail to discover that the cross of Christ 
is the foundation of the world's hope. You may begin 
with the source of the stream and follow it on until your 
frail bark floats out into a boundless and fathomless 
ocean. This is what every earnest and devoted Bible 
student is able to do. Genesis is the beginning of 
the stream, and the Revelation and beyond it is the 
ocean. 

We ought — it is a duty that can not be compromised 
or neglected — to read the Bible in order to understand 
it; in order to " be ready always to give an answer/ 7 a 
Bible answer, " to every man that asketh a reason of the 
hope that is in us " (I. Pet. iii. 15). How can we do 
this ? How can the preachers do it ? The first require- 
ment is study. What must we study? The word of 
God. What for ? In order that we may -be able to 
divide it, rightly divide it. Why is it necessary to 
divide the word of truth ? In order that we may apply 
it to that for which it was intended, that we may be suc- 
cessful workmen in the vineyard of the Lord. If the 
preacher enjoys a direct call, and a special qualification 
for his work, study is absolutely unnecessary. If the 
Christian enjoys direct and indisputable evidence of his 
acceptance with God, it is a waste of time to study a 
book that affirms that it contains the revelation of the 
truth. We can not learn anything concerning God, sal- 
vation or heaven, outside of the Bible ; hence Paul wrote 
to Timothy : " And the things that thou hast heard of 
me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to 



THE BIBLE ITS OWN INTERPRETER. 



13 



faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also 9 f 
(II. Tim. ii. 2). 

How must I proceed that the Bible may interpret or 
unfold itself to my mind ? A few examples will be 
enough to convince the most incredulous. When God 
passed sentence upon the devil for the part he performed 
in the transgression, He said : " 1 will put enmity be- 
tween thee and the woman, and between thy seed and 
her seed ; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise 
his heel " (Gen. iii. 15). What does this mean? What 
does it imply ? What does it include ? What does it 
suggest? " Forasmuch then as the children are partakers 
of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of 
the same; that through death he might destroy him that 
had the power of death, that is, the devil " (Heb. ii. 14). 
" For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that 
he might destroy the works of the devil " (I. John iii. 8). 
When God called Abram out of his country he gave him 
the promise of another country, the land of Canaan, and 
also a promise for the world. " In thee shall all families 
of the earth be blessed 99 (Gen. xii. 3). This promise 
was renewed to him when he offered his son (Gen. xxii. 
18). Also to Isaac (Gen. xxvi. 3-5), and to Jacob (Gen. 
xxviii. 10-15). What does it mean? Who is Abra- 
ham's seed ? Does the Bible explain this promise ? 
" Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises 
made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many ; but as 
of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ " (Gal. iii. 16). 
Just before the death of the patriarch Jacob in the land 
of Egypt, he called his sons around him and blessed 
them. When he came to Judah he said : " The scepter 
shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from be- 



14 



SERMON I. 



tween his feet, until Shiloh come, and unto him shall the 
gathering of the people be " (Gen. xlix. 10). Who is 
Shiloh ? a For it is evident that our Lord sprang out 
of Jii.da " (Heb. vii. 14). " The Lion of the tribe of 
Juda, the root of David, hath prevailed to open the 
book, and to loose the seven seals thereof" (Rev. v. 5). 
" For since the beginning of the world men have not 
heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye 
seen, O God, besides thee, what he hath prepared for 
him that waiteth for him" (Isaiah Ixiv. 4). What does 
this passage mean ? Does it refer to the eternal state, 
to heaven ? " But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, 
nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of 
man, the things which God hath prepared for them that 
love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his 
Spirit : for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep 
things of God" (I. Cor. ii. 9, 10). These things were 
not known in the olden times, but they are fully revealed 
under the reign of Jesus Christ. " So then faith cometh 
by hearing and hearing by the word of God " (Eom. x. 
17). What is faith? Taking God at his word (Rom. 
iv. 21). On what does it rest? " For other foundation 
can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ " 
(I. Cor. iii. 11). " Except ye repent, ye shall all like- 
wise perish" (Luke xiii. 3). What is repentance? 
What produces it ? " Cease to do evil ; learn to do 
well" (Isaiah i. 16, 17). " Godly sorrow worketh re- 
pentance to salvation " (II. Cor. vii. 10). " Whosoever 
therefore shall confess me before men, him will I con- 
fess also before my Father which is in heaven " (Matt, 
x. 32). How is this confession made ? What produces 
in the human heart a willingness to make this confes- 
sion ? Where must it be made ? " That if thou shalt 



THE BIBLE ITS OWN INTERPRETER. lb 



confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe 
in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, 
thou shalt be saved ; for with the heart man believeth 
unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is 
made unto salvation" (Rom. x. 9, 10). U A good pro- 
fession before many witnesses 9} (I. Tim. vi. 12). " Bap- 
tizing them" (Matt, xxviii. 19). How many baptisms 
does the Bible demand ? " One Lord, one faith, one 
baptism " (Eph. iv. 5). What is the action ? " Buried 
with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him 
through the faith of the operation of God who hath 
raised him from the dead" (Col. ii. 12). What is it 
for ? The remission of sins and to bring us into Christ 
(Acts ii. 38; Gal. iii. 27). The Bible answers every 
question fully, clearly, pointedly, that you can ask. In 
other words, the Bible is the only book in the world that 
ever did or ever will interpret the Bible. The 
church in reference to this proposition ought to be 
transformed into one great interrogation point. It 
is our duty to ask. It is the province of the Bible to 
answer. 

In order to appreciate these things it is necessary to 
divide the word of truth, to see that the Bible is a har- 
monious and consistent book. When you open the Bi- 
ble and find a book named Deuteronomy or Romans, 
you have a right to inquire : When was this book 
written? Who wrote it? Why was it written? For 
whom was it written ? Was it intended for the 
Patriarchal age, the Jewish age, or the Christian 
age? Was it addressed to a patriarch, a Jew, or 
Christian ? Is it addressed to the unconverted or the 
converted ? 

The Bible naturally divides itself into two distinct 



16 



SERMON I. 



parts, the Old Testament and the New Testament. 
What is the difference between them? Is the New Tes- 
tament a continuation of the Old Testament, or is it a 
new and separate institution ? A scriptural answer to 
these questions will help us to reach satisfactory conclu- 
sions in reference to our duty under the mediation of 
Christ and the authority of the apostles. Both Testa- 
ments came by divine authority, and one is just as per- 
fect as the other for the accomplishment of the purposes 
of the Lord. The moon is as perfect as the sun, yet it 
can not be denied that the sun is the source of light and 
heat. The Old Testament was limited in its application. 
It was intended for only a very small part of the world, 
Abraham and his descendants. If you will read the 
seventeenth chapter of Genesis, you will find a full de- 
scription of the covenant and the people who were to 
receive and enjoy its blessings. Two classes of people 
were to participate in its privileges and honors: (1) those 
who were born in Abraham's house ; (2) those who were 
bought with his money. You can not claim membership 
under either of these provisions ; hence you can never 
become a member of the Abrahamic covenant. This in- 
stitution was not developed until the days of Moses. 
Indeed, it extended from the promise made to Abraham 
unto the death of Christ. You have observed that God 
gave him two promises (Gen. xii. 1-4). The develop- 
ment and fulfillment of the first included the Jews as a 
nation, the Levitical priesthood, and the most remark- 
able people in the world. The unfolding and accom- 
plishment of the second embraces the gospel of Jesus 
Christ, or the good news of God manifested to all the 
world. The development of the first promise belonged 
to the administration of the law of Moses. The devel- 



THE BIBLE ITS OWN INTERPRETER. 



17 



opment of the second was " through the blood of the 
everlasting covenant; " in other words, the New Testa- 
ment dedicated or sealed by the blood of Christ (Heb. 
ix. 12). The old covenant was intended for one nation, 
the Jews (Gen. xvii. 13); the new covenant is intended 
for all nations and all ages (Matt, xxviii. 18-20). The 
old covenant was dedicated by the blood of animals 
(Heb. ix. 19) ; the gospel is sanctified by the " precious 
blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and with- 
out spot " (I. Pet. i. 19). The old covenant was admin- 
istered by a priesthood composed of frail men (Heb. vii. 
11); the new covenant is administered by the everlasting 
priest, Jesus the Christ (Heb. vii. 28). The old coven- 
ant sacrifices were offered " year by year continually" 
(Heb. x. 1) ; the new covenant sacrifice was offered when 
Jesus gave himself "a ransom for all " (I. Tim. ii. 6). 
" Circumcision in the flesh made by hands" (Eph. ii. 
11), was the distinctive feature of the first covenant; 
circumcision of the heart and character are distinctive 
features of the second covenant (Rom. ii. 29 ; Col. ii. 11). 
I have affirmed that the Bible answers all legitimate 
questions concerning our deliverance from the thraldom 
of sin. It is the word of God. It separates God's 
method of revealing Himself into the two Testaments, 
and you can not confound them unless you do it at your 
peril. It is a dangerous thing to interfere with the 
book of God, or to mix things which He has made 
distinct. 

Looking backward to that which was accomplished 
through the old covenant, or the law of Moses, the apos- 
tle Paul, with the gospel in his heart and the light of 
heaven shining around his path, made a number of de- 
clarations concerning the first covenant that ought to 



18 



SERMON L 



attract the attention of-every man who desires to be 
saved. (1) The law was only a shadow of good things 
to come. " Who serve unto the example and shadow of 
heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when 
he was about to make the tabernacle : for, See, saith he, 
that thou make all things according to the pattern 
shewed to thee in the mount " (Heb. viii. 5) . (2) It 
could not produce righteousness. " I do not frustrate 
the grace of God : for if righteousness come by the law, 
then Christ is dead in vain " (Gal. ii. 21). (3) It could 
not produce perfection. " For the law made nothing 
perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did ; by the 
which we draw nigh unto God " (Heb. vii. 19). (4) It 
could not produce life. " Is the law then against the 
promises of God ? God forbid: for if there had been a 
law given which could have given life, verily righteous- 
ness should have been by the law " (Gal. iii. 21). (5) It 
could not give a good conscience. " Which was a figure 
for the time then present, in which were offered both 
gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did 
the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience" 
(Heb. ix. 9). (6) It could not justify the people. " By 
him all that believe are justified from all things, from 
which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses " 
(Acts xiii. 39). (7) The law was ended when Christ 
died upon the cross. " For Christ is the end of the law 
for righteousness to every one that believeth " (Rom. x. 
4). (8) It is abolished or done away. " But if the 
ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, 
was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not 
steadfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his 
countenance: which glory was to be done away; how 
shall not the ministration of the Spirit be rather glori- 



THE BIBLE ITS OWN INTERPRETER. 



19 



ous ? For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, 
much more doth the ministration of righteousness ex- 
ceed in glory. For even that which was made glorious 
had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that 
excelleth. For if that which is done away is glorious, 
much more that which remaineth is glorious" (II. Cor. 
iii. 7-11). (9). It has been taken away. " He taketh away 
the first, that he may establish the second " (Heb. x. 9). 
(10) It was fulfilled by Jesus Christ. " Think not that 
I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets : I am 
not come to destroy, but to fulfill " (Matt. v. 17). (11) 
It was nailed to the cross. " Blotting out the handwri- 
ting of ordinances that was against us, which was con- 
trary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his 
cross" (Col. ii. 14). (12). We are not under the law. 
u For sin shall not have dominion over you : for ye are 
not under the law, but under grace " (Rom. vi. 14). 
You can not seek for or obtain pardon under the law, 
for it is abolished. Therefore, in your attempts to di- 
vide the word of truth, to learn the way of salvation, 
you should make a careful discrimination between the 
law of Moses and the gospel of Christ. 

What is the New Testament or Covenant? Where 
did it begin ? When did it begin ? What does it em- 
brace? The Bible answers: " For finding fault with 
them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, 
when I will make a new covenant with the house of 
Israel and with the house of Judah : not according to 
the covenant that I made w T ith their fathers, in the day 
when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the 
land of Egypt; because they continued not in my cov- 
enant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord. For 
this is the covenant that I will make with the house of 



20 



SERMON I. 



Israel after those days, saith the Lord : I will put my 
laws into their mind and write them in their hearts; and 
I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a peo- 
ple : and they shall not teach every man his neighbor, 
and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord : for 
all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. For I 
will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins 
and their iniquities will T remember no more. In that 
he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. 
Now that which decayeth and waxeth old, is ready to 
vanish away" (Jer. xxxi. 31-34; Heb. viii. 8-13). This 
is a significant passage. Observe (1) that God found fault 
with the old covenant. (2) He declared that he would 
make another. (3) That it was to be unlike the old one. 
(4) That he would write his law in the minds and hearts 
of the people, and not upon tables of stone. (5) That 
all should know the Lord, from the least unto the great- 
est. (6) That sins would be forgiven, and therfore 
remembered no more. (7) The first covenent waxed old 
and passed away. If there is a doubt lingering in your 
mind in reference to the new covenant, this plain and 
comprehensive statement ought to destroy it forever : 
" But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, 
by how much also he is the mediator of a better 
covenant, which was established upon better promises" 
(Heb. viii. 6). 

Jesus Christ is the testator of the New Testament, 
the apostles are the witnesses, and the patrimony is 
eternal life. " For where a testament is, there must also 
of necessity be the death of the testator. For a testa- 
ment is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of 
no strength at all while the testator liveth " (Heb. ix. 
16, 17). A testament is no more nor less than a will. 



THE BIBLE ITS OWN INTERPRETER. 



21 



The New Testament is the will of Christ No will or 
testament can be enforced before the death of the testa- 
tor. Therefore, the New Testament was not enforced 
during the natural life of Jesus. The cross of Jesus is 
the dividing line. The law of Moses was in full force 
until " the vail of the temple was rent in twain from the 
top to the bottom" (Mark xv. 38). • Jesus Christ ob- 
served the law and commanded his disciples to do like- 
wise (Matt, xxiii. 1-3). During the three years of his 
ministry he was submitting the principles of his will to 
his chosen witnesses. When he died on the cross, he 
sealed forever the lessons that he taught them. When 
did they bear witness to his life, works and words? Not 
until the day of Pentecost. It was impossible for them 
to begin before that time. The law began at Mount 
Sinai, and the gospel in the city of Jerusalem after Jesus 
went up on high (Isaiah ii. 2, 3). 

The gospel of Christ is deeper, more positive and 
more extensive in its demands than the law of Moses 
was. Do you ask for the proof? Here it is. The law 
of Moses said : " Thou shalt not take the name of the 
Lord thy God in vain " (Ex. xx. 7). The New Testa- 
ment says : " Let your communications be, Yea, yea ; 
Nay, nay : for whatsoever is more than these cometh of 
evil" (Matt. v. 37). The law of Moses said: " Thou 
shalt not kill " (Ex. xx. 13). The New Testament says : 
" Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye 
know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him" 
(I. John iii. 15). The law of Moses said : " Thou shalt 
not steal " (Ex. xx. 15). The New Testament says: 
" Let him that stole steal no more ; but rather let him 
labor, working with his hands the thing which is good, 
that he may have to give to him that needeth " (Eph. iv. 



22 



SERMON I. 



28). The law of Moses said: " Thou shalt not bear 
false witness against thy neighbor (Ex. xx. 16). The 
New Testament says : " But speaking the truth in love, 
may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, 
even Christ " (Eph. iv. 15). The law of Moses said: 
" Thou shalt not covet " (Ex. xx. 17). The New Testa- 
ment says: " Lov£ worketh no ill to his neighbor; 
therefore love is the fulfilling of the law " (Rom. 
xiii. 10). 

The Old Testament stands as a witness to the New. 
"But now the righteousness of God without the law is 
manifested, being witnessed by the law and prophets ; 
even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus 
Christ unto all and upon all them that believe ; for there 
is no difference" (Rom. iii. 21, 22). The lessons of the 
Old Testament were written for our learning. " For 
whatsoever things were written aforetime were written 
for our learning, that we through patience and comfort 
of the Scriptures might have hope" (Rom. xv. 4). We 
read the Old Testament because it bears witness to the 
gospel ; but the terms of salvation to us, to the world, 
can only be found in the New Testament. 

What does the New Testament contain? It divides 
itself into five departments. (1) Matthew, Mark, Luke, 
and John. (2) The Acts of the Apostles. (3) Romans, 
I. and II. Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philip- 
pians, Colossians, I. and II. Thessalonians, Philemon, 
Hebrews, James, I. and II. Peter, I., II. and III. 
John, and Jude. (4) I. and II. Timothy, and Titus. 
(5) Revelation. The first division presents Jesus Christ 
as the Saviour of men. The second embraces the plan 
of salvation promulgated by the apostles. The third is 
addressed to the Church. The fourth is addressed to the 



THE BIBLE ITS OWN INTERPRETER. 



2:\ 



Preachers. The fifth is a book of Prophecy. The first 
division tells us what to believe ; the second tells us what 
to do in order to be saved from past sins ; the epistles 
teach us how to maintain our Christian character ; 
and the Revelation lifts us to Pisgah's heights and 
gives us a glimpse of the eternal home to which we are 
hastening. 

When we learn to " divide the word of truth," and 
become willing to preach the gospel to please God and 
save men, the world will be brought to Christ ; but not 
before. The world demands truth, and it can not be 
satisfied with less. God commands us to preach the 
whole truth, and we can not be saved if we refuse. 
Why do men misinterpret the teaching of the Bible ? 
Because they are married to human systems that must 
be maintained, truth or no truth, obedience or no obe- 
dience. Why do men neglect the teaching of the apos- 
tles, and base their hope for salvation upon the fact that 
the dying thief received the blessing of Jesus before the 
New Testament was sealed by the death of the Testator? 
Because they would rather be saved like a thief than 
submit to such a humiliation as the " obedience of faith " 
demands ! Why do men apply the promises of Jesus to 
the apostles concerning the baptism of the Holy Spirit 
to the wicked world ? Because this is the only way in 
which they can apparently rule out baptism for the re- 
mission of sins. Why do men turn to the letters to the 
Church to find the plan of salvation for persons who 
have never received Christ ? Because they either do 
not know the truth, or they are not willing to obey it. 
Why do men claim that God sends them a direct assur- 
ance of salvation when they have never obeyed the gos- 
pel? Because they are ignorant of the preaching of the 



24 



SERMON L 



apostles. What is the cause of this confusion, sectarian- 
ism and doubting ? Unwillingness on the part of the 
people to receive and obey the truth. The responsibility 
lies at your door and mine. Will you do your part 
toward the enlightenment of the world? Will you 
begin now? 



THE REVELATION OF GOD. 



25 



SERMON II. 

THE REVELATION OF GOD. 

Text : " All things are delivered unto me of my Father ; and 
no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any 
man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son 
will reveal him r ' (Matt. xi. 27). 

What is the Bible ? It is an aggregation of 
sixty-six books written by thirty-six men under the 
inspiration of God in the different ages of the world. 
Undoubtedly, but the definition excepting the pare that 
refers to the divine guidance of those who wrote it in- 
cludes only the visable, the material, the mechanical. 
Shall we try again ? It is the revelation of the will of 
God. A moment's reflection will convince you that this 
is also unsatisfactory. Human sin, weakness and suffer- 
ing demand something more than the enactment of law 
by a power that is immeasurably beyond our reach. 
How will this do? It is the revelation of the plan of 
salvation. This comes nearer to our wants, but our bur- 
dened hearts, our clouded minds, and our uncertain steps 
ask for more than the submission of a plan to save us. 
Does this definition satisfy the wants of your nature? 
It is the revelation of the love of God. This approaches 
nearer to the great throbbing, moving, dying mass of 
humanity, but the Bible contains more, infinitely more 
than this. It is the revelation of God himself. His 
personality, eternal existence, wisdom, power and good- 



20 



SERMON II 



ness, are the inspiration, life and perpetuity of this won- 
derful book. 

Lying back of the divinity and perpetuity of the 
Bible is the existence of God. Lying back of the re- 
vealed will of God is the Creator himself, who does not 
leave his children without assistance even when they de- 
serve nothing at his hands. Lying back of the scheme 
of redemption is the infinite mind that devised it. Ly- 
ing back of the fact that God has revealed his love to 
man in numberless ways is God, who is love itself (I. 
John iv. 8). When you study the Bible do you not ask 
who is behind it, above it, around it, underneath it, 
within it? Does not your mind, your faith, your 
spiritual vision identify it with its Author and therefore 
establish a living, a perpetual and unchangeable relation 
between the existence of God and the wants of man ? 
If you read the Bible, considering it nothing more than 
a law book, a book of poetry, a book of history or a 
book of wonders, you rob it of its life and much of its 
glory and power. When I examine a book of common 
legislative enactments my first inquiry is not: What does 
it contain, what does it protect or prohibit, but : what 
power or government lies behind it, and can it maintain 
and execute its laws? When I read a poetical w T ork I 
ask: Who wrote this, when and where did he live, and 
what kind of a man was he ? When I read the Bible 
I ask : Who is the author of this book, where does he 
live, why did he write it? A government that does not 
reveal its dignity and power through its laws, is abso- 
lutely unworthy of the name. A poetical work that 
does not in some degree reveal the life and personality 
of its author, will never attract the attention or excite 
the admiration of the world. A government, whether, 



THE REVELATION OF GOD. 



good or bad, flows out into its laws. The poet's heart, 
whether pure or impure; his life, whether consistent or 
contradictory, and his individuality, whether ordinary or 
extraordinary, flows out into his production. The power 
and glory, the presence and purity, and the love and 
sympathy of God light up every thought in the Bible. 
The law directs attention to the government behind it. 
The poem directs attention to the poet. The Bible di- 
rects attention to the one true and living God. The law 
is a part of the government. The poem is a part of the 
poet. The Bible is a part of the Lord. The law is the 
revelation of the government. The poem is the revela- 
tion of the poet. The Bible is the Revelation of the 
Lord. The law is the visible manifestation of the gov- 
ernment. The poem is the visible manifestation of the 
poet. The Bible is the visible manifestation of God. 
The law is a living reality, for the power of the govern- 
ment flows into every fibre of its body. The poem is a 
living reality, for it is the product of an individual life. 
The Bible is a living reality, for it is the product of the 
divine and eternal life. It is impossible to separate the 
government and its laws ; the poet and his productions, 
or the Bible and the Lord. When you insult the laws 
you insult the government, for they are one. When 
yoa abuse the poem you offend the poet, for they are 
inseparable. When you neglect, misuse or insult the 
Bible, you insult Him whose life is the life of His 
word. 

The Bible, not the paper, the printing or the bind- 
ing, for they change constantly, but the thoughts, the 
information, the wisdom it contains, is the revelation of 
God to man. We can form an estimate of a govern- 
ment through its laws, but in no other way. We can 



28 



SERMON II 



become acquainted with a poet through his works, hut 
by no other means. We can understand and see the one 
true and living God through the Bible, but in no other 
place. Do you study, honor and obey the Bible? Of 
course you do not. Why not ? Because you do not like 
to be brought face to face with God. If you read it and 
love it, you certainly love God ; but if you neglect it, 
disregard it, or depend upon some other source for in- 
formation, you are yet in your sins! The supposed dis- 
tance between God and His word is purely imaginary; 
worse than this, it is the invention of the devil ! and 
the prayer in which he is besought, urged, begged to~ 
accompany His word " with power," is the offspring of 
the most abominable ignorance, for the word of God is • 
the revelation of God, and therefore the power of God ! 
When I w T rite a letter to a friend, is it necessary for me 
to accompany it with my spirit or some additional power 
in order to make it effectual, to enable him to understand 
and appreciate it ? No. Why not? Because I am in 
it, my mind is in it, my spirit is in it, my love is in it, 
my wisdom is in it, my knowledge is in it, my friendship 
is in it, my sympathy is in it, my individuality is in it; 
all I am or can be is in it. I pour my sympathy and 
love into my thoughts, and he can not doubt what I say 
unless he doubts my friendship or truthfulness. If I am 
not in my word, there is nothing in it. Is God in the 
Bible? If He is, it contains all power, and no outside 
demonstration is necessary to drive it home to the 
mark. If He is not in it, it is not His word, and no 
power, human or divine, can make it so. The Bible is 
true, all true. It is the word of God. He is in it, the 
Christ is in it, the Holy Spirit is in it, or it does not 



THE REVELATION OF COD. 



29 



contain a word of truth from Genesis to the amen of 
the Revelation. 

Why do you read the Bible? For its poetry, its his- 
tory, its law? Do you read it expecting that God will 
impart His Spirit to make it true, and to enable you to 
understand it? If so, you read it like an infidel, for he 
does not believe that God is in it; and if He is not as 
you seem to think, if the Holy Spirit is not it until He 
imparts additional power, it is devoid of inherent truth, 
and is no more the revelation of God than the produc- 
tions of men. Is the Bible as it is the word of God? 
If not, it is not worthy of our time and attention. Why 
are the thoughts, the works, the productions of men in- 
sufficient to save us? Because they are only the achieve- 
ments of human minds; and the deepest philosophy, the 
grandest poetry, or the most beautiful system of religion, 
that bears only the impress of human intellect, can never 
lift us higher or make us better than the mind from 
which it originates. Why, therefore, do we consider 
the Bible such an important book? Because it presents 
to us the thoughts of the mind of God, and proposes to 
lift us up to Him. How many of you really and un- 
qualifiedly believe that the Bible is the word of God, 
the revelation of God ? How many of you are willing 
to receive it as a message from Him, as a perfect and 
beautiful portraiture of the divine mind? How many 
of you read it simply as a law book, and not the bright 
and smiling face of the loving Father ? How many of 
you are willing and ready to lay it aside for the mysteri- 
ous, the speculative, the uncertain ? O for a deeper, 
stronger and more abiding confidence in the living word 
of the living God ! 

The will of God is not the expression of despotic 



30 SERMON II 

power, but the revelation of a Being of infinite power, 
wisdom and goodness. The plan of salvation is not 
only the revelation of a nicely constructed system, but 
the manifestation of a Father of boundless sympathy, 
love and mercy; the adaptation of God to the wants and 
to the understanding of men. As the sun bursts in 
glorious splendor through the rifted clouds and fills the 
world with light, so God, yes God ! shines through the 
Bible, his own word, " to give the light of the knowl- 
edge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ n 
(II. Cor. iv. 6). I have affirmed that it is impossible to 
separate God and the Bible ; that you can not accept one 
and reject the other, or reject one and honor the other. 
Dou you ask for proof? To the proof let us turn: The 
nations that are destitute of the Bible worship many 
Gods. They are without hope and without God in the 
world (Eph ii. 12). 

The Grecians were among the enlightened nations of 
the past. They were wise in philosophy, government, 
oratory. Yet it is said that they worshiped many 
thousand gods. The Jews had " the oracles of God " 
(Rom. iii. 2), and they, therefore, worshiped the one 
true and living God. What made the difference in 
these two nations? One had the revelation of God, the 
other did not. Remove from the Bible the revelation o£ 
God, and what will remain? Nothing but the material 
on which it is printed. What power could induce you 
to accept the framework, the system presented in the 
Bible, if the presence of God did not warm the thoughts, 
the facts, the commands, the laws, the promises into a 
living, perpetual reality ? If God is revealed in the 
truth, if His presence keeps it alive, does not God 
"work in us" (Eph. i. 18-23), if His thoughts turn our 



THE REVELATION OF GOD. 81 

thoughts heavenward (Isaiah lv. 7-9; II. Cor. x. 4, 5) ; 
if His facts or truths unlock our understanding (Luke 
xxiv. 45); if His commandments conquer our stubborn 
resistance (I. Pet. i. 22) ; or His promises lift us into a 
higher life (II. Pet. i. 4) ? It seems to me, that people 
who appeal from the Bible and ask for the knowledge 
of salvation from heaven, are not only guilty of insult- 
ing the revelation that God has made of Himself, but of 
treason of the blackest form against the very foundations 
of His government. 

Do you ask, what I mean by the assertion that God 
reveals Himself to man through the Bible ? I will en- 
deavor to enlarge the thought, and make it plain even to 
the most careless observer. Does it reveal His person, 
or His attributes ? Both. Is He capable of sympathiz- 
ing with the suffering sons of men ? The Bible answers : 
"Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord 
pitieth them that fear him " (Ps. ciii. 13). Is He a 
Father? The Bible answers: " That ye may be the 
children of your Father which is in heaven : for he 
maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and 
sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust " (Matt. v. 45). 
Is He strong and wise ? The Bible answers : " Behold 
God is mighty and dispiseth not any; he is mighty in 
strength and wisdom " (Job xxxvi. 5). His fatherly 
feeling for His suffering creatures shines through all His 
ways. His wisdom is proclaimed in every message of 
the Bible, for no one but the God of truth, knowledge 
and wisdom could have arranged such a plan as it un- 
folds. Do you say, the Bible is the work of man? If 
so, its author is great enough to be a God ! The Bible 
reveals the God of infinite power; of inexhaustible wis- 
dom ; of unceasing goodness. Man is limited in power; 



32 



SERMON IL 



circumscribed by mental and physical frailties ; full of 
imperfections. Could he invent such a God as the Bible 
makes known ? The God of the Bible knows all things, 
and therefore makes no mistakes. Man does not know 
anything ; there is a mystery deep, dark, unfathomable 
and eternal behind everything he professes to know. 
Could he imagine a God who comprehends all mystery; 
to whom darkness is as bright as the day ? Nay, verily ! 
If man were perfect, he could of his own power imagine 
or invent a perfect ideal, and if one man had written the 
whole of the Bible, our minds might grasp the idea that 
he originated it; but when we reflect that it was written 
by thirty-six men, during a period of sixteen hundred 
years, and that it harmonizes in all its parts ; and when 
we further reflect that they lived in different ages, sur- 
rounded by different circumstances, we are driven to the 
irresistible conclusion that it is not the work of man, 
unassisted by the Lord. All history sustains these de- 
clarations, for the gods of men are nothing more than 
the offspring of a sinful heart and a clouded imagina- 
tion. You may aggregate the gods of the heathens of 
all ages and countries, and combine all that is attributed 
to each into one grand ideal, and he will be like the 
source from which he came, impotent, sensual, earthly. 
It is, therefore, undeniable that the Bible is the revela- 
lion of God, of His power, of His wisdom, of His 
glory, of His presence. 

From Adam's transgression downward, man's dark- 
ened mind, frail body, and breaking heart cried out after 
God. Man needs a power above himself; a god he will 
have. Sin was a dark and stormy gulf, whose waves 
chanted the notes of despair. On one side, man, sin, 
suffered rnd died. On the other, full of love and com- 



THE REVELATION OF GOD. 



33 



passion, shined the majesty and glory of God. Man 
was unable to cross these turbulent waters. God, out of 
pity and love, would not, for His presence is a u con- 
suming fire" (Heb. xii. 29) ; and no sinner can see His 
face and live. Hence, the first revelations of His per- 
son were vague, indistinct, and unsatisfactory. In this 
way he appeared to Jacob (Gen. xxviii. 11-28), and 
many others who lived in the patriarchal times. Man 
at the time could not endure more. See the little drop 
of water resting in the bosom of the ocean wave. God 
wants it. Does he send an angel to lift it up and help it 
on in its mission of mercy ? No. He sends a golden 
sun-ray to warm it, to expand it, to spread light through 
it and, wonder of wonders ! it begins to rise. Did God 
send an angel to lift man up to nobility of character? 
By no means. He gave him a promise, a vague and im- 
perfect outline of Himself, far away in the dim distance. 
His heart began to get warm, his mental vision began to 
brighten, and his aspirations began to grasp after the 
pure, the good, the everlasting. 

Moses saw Him in the burning bush*(Ex. iii. 1-6), 
but this did not satisfy the longings of his mind. It was 
only a faint reflection of His majasty and power. Hence 
Moses said : " If I have found grace in thy sight, shew me 
now thy way." The Lord answered this by promising to be 
with him and give him rest. This did not meet his wants, 
for he desired to see God. And he replied : " I beseech 
thee, shew me thy glory." The Lord answered : " I will 
make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim 
the name of the Lord before thee ; and will be gracious 
to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on 
whom I will shew mercy. And he said, Thou canst not 
see my face : for there shall no man see me, and live. 



34 



SERMON II 



And the Lord said, Behold, there is a place by me, and 
thou shalt stand upon a rock : and it shall come to pass, 
while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a cleft 
of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I 
pass by: and I will take away mine hand, and thou 
shalt see my back parts ; but my face shall not be seen " 
(Ex. xxxiii. 12-23). 

God manifested himself to Israel at the introduction 
of the law. Did He step down upon the mountain, and 
show them the brightness of His glory? The record 
(Ex. xix. 9), says he came down in a thick cloud. 
Grand, glorious, majestic spectacle ! As I look back to 
the sacred mouutain, I see the lightning burst from the 
awful cloud, and intensify the darkness of the summit 
of Sinai. I hear the muttering thunders roll, and invol- 
untarily catch the solemnity of the occasion. I behold 
the sea of upturned terror-stricken faces. The ground 
trembles under the tread of its mighty Maker, and the 
people stand in silence while the law is written by the 
finger of God and handed down to men. The Lord was 
with them, for* it is said that when the tabernacle was 
completed : u A cloud covered the tent of the congrega- 
tion, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle w 
(Ex. xl. 34). Indeed, the " lights and perfections " of 
the entire system were the indications that God was 
present, to bless them. They were honored above all 
nations of the ancient times; yet how few of them pos- 
sessed a clear conception of the love and purity of God. * 
They had law, statutory and ceremonial ; law in abun- 
dance ; but in their imperfect understanding of the 
truth, much of their work became mechanical, lifeless, 
unacceptable. True, they saw the glory of God when 
Sinai's cloud-capped and hoary summit echoed His 



THE REVELATION OF GOD. 35 

mighty footsteps, thundered His existence through every 
heart, and painted consternation on every face; but this 
demonstration, awful as it was, did not reveal His love, 
nor enforce upon them the thought that He is ever pres- 
ent in His word. Few of them felt His presence in 
after years. Few of them meditated upon His word, 
until they came so near the gates of eternity, that they 
could feel the throbbing of His wondrous life. Yet 
their motive to do good, and to be good, was in the law 
under which they lived. Their obedience and purity as 
a nation rose and fell with their appreciation of that 
fact, that God revealed Himself to them through their 
law, His law. 

The manifestations of God during the patriarchal 
and Jewish dispensations, were only preparatory to the 
greater, higher, grander, clearer, fuller manifestations 
of God under the dispensation of Grace. It was a diffi- 

X 

cult task for the mind of the uneducated Jews to see a 
personal, present, and loving Redeemer and Friend in 
the ten commandments; hence the prophetic part of the 
system. The tabernacle, the priests, the daily and 
annual offerings, were shadows; but only shadows of 
good things to come (Heb. x. 1). The law was addressed 
to the life ; the ten commandments did not touch the 
heart ! but these things were pictures to the mind, to the 
soul, to the faith. For hundreds of years they sighed, 
struggled against temptation, and waited for the prom- 
ised redemption, until eternity gave up its treasures and 
the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary, a virgin in Israel, 
and said to her : u Hail, thou that art highly favored, the 
Lord is with thee : blessed art thou among women. Fear 
not, Mary : for thou hast found favor with God. And, 
behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring 



36 



SERMON II 



forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be 
great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest ; and 
the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his 
father David : and he shall reign over the house of 
Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no 
end. Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this 
be, seeing I know not a man ? And the angel answered 
and said unto her, The Holy Spirit shall come upon 
thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow 
thee : therefore also that holy thing which shall be born 
of thee shall be called the Son of God " (Luke i. 28-35). 
Joseph, to whom Mary was espoused, was diposed " to 
put her away privily. But while he thought on these 
things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him 
in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not 
to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is con- 
ceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she shall bring 
forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus : for he 
shall save his people from their sins " (Matt. i. 19-21). 
An apostle of Jesus Christ gives additional light: " And 
the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we 
beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of 
the Father,) full of grace and truth " (John i. 14). Are 
these passages mysterious? Are they hard to under- 
stand? Let us turn to the New Testament commentary, 
the words of the apostles of the Lord. They explain 
and make them clear : " God was manifested in the 
flesh " (I. Tim. iii. 16). Could anything be plainer than 
this ? But how was God manifested in the flesh ? The 
power of the Highest overshadowed Mary, she con- 
ceived, brought forth a son, " the Word was made flesh," 
and God was with men. When I say, God is manifested 
in nature, everybody knows what 1 mean. When Lsay, 



THE REVELATION OF GOD. 



God manifested himself in the destruction of the wicked 
through the ages past, every mind grasps the thought. 
When I say, God shines into our hearts through the 
truth, no thinking man stops to doubt. When I say, 
God was manifested in the flesh, angels and men stand 
in awe and wonder. Do you ask for further informa- 
tion ? Turn to the word of truth. There is no other 
place to which we can go. 

Do the Scriptures identify him with man ? He was 
born as we are born (Luke ii. 11). He had flesh and 
blood as we have (Heb. ii. 4). He grew up from child- 
hood to manhood as we do (Luke ii. 40). He labored 
with his hands as a carpenter (Mark vi. 3). He suffered 
the pangs of hunger as we do now (Matt. xxi. 18). He 
became weary, and sat down to rest, as we have all done 
(John iv. 6). He wept at the grave of a departed friend 
(John xi. 35). He was patriotic, willing to render to the 
government its dues (Matt. xxii. 21). He had warm 
personal friends, as we all delight to have (John xxi. 20). 
He grieved over the sufferings and sorrows of others 
(Matt, xxiii. 37). He loved His mother, and made 
provision for her declining vears before he departed 
from the world (John xix. 26, 27). He died, he passed 
through the dark valley before us (Rom. vi. 9-10). He 
w£s buried in the earth, the common lev^l to which 
kings and subjects all must come (I. Cor. xv. 4). Jesus 
Christ had a heart that beat in deepest sympathy with 
every wail of sin and pain. The character that is given 
him by the historians justifies the statement that, sin 
excepted, he was the most intensely human person that 
ever trod the earth. As a descendant of Abraham, he 
was a man — yes, a man in every sense of the word. 
He knew what it was to earn his daily bread, and there- 



38 



SERMON II 



fore knows the wants of the millions who toil from day 
to day to maintain their existence. He drank the cup 
of sorrow to its very dregs, and he knows how to sym- 
pathize with us when we pass through the deep waters. 
Paul, who caught the spirit of His wonderful life, gave 
expression to the depths of his thought and feeling in 
these immortal words : " Wherefore in all things it 
behooved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he 
might be a merciful and faithful high-priest in things 
pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of 
the people ; for in that he himself hath suifered, being 
tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted " 
(Heb. ii. 17, 18). 

Was he more than man ? Yes, he is the Son of God. 
More than this, he is the only begotten Son of God. If 
he w T ere not the Son of God, he was the greatest deceiver 
that ever lived on earth. Do you ask for the evidences 
of his divinity ? Do you ask if he was the revelation 
of God to the eyes, the minds, and the hearts of men ? 
His own life and labors must answer. He was begotten 
of God (John iii. 16). Angels, " a multitude of the 
heavenly host," sang their glad notes through earth and 
sky when he was born in the city of Bethlehem (Luke 
ii. 13). He is the salvation and light of men (Luke ii. 
25-32; John i. 4). He was wiser at the age of twelve 
than the doctors and lawyers of Jerusalem (Luke ii. 46). 
He was superior to nature (Matt. viii. 26). He became 
poor in order that others might be rich (II. Cor. 8, 9). 
You may complain of your poverty, but there is not a 
poorer man in this congregation, in the world, than Jesus 
became for you. I believe that I may go a step further 
and say that the poorest saint is richer than Jesus was. 
If Jesus had been only a man, would he have done this? 



THE REVELATION OF GOB. 



39 



Never. Would you, under the power of his teaching, 
do this ? I doubt it. He knew all things. Even his 
enemies declared that " Never man spake like this man " 
(John vii. 46). He had power to lay down his life, and 
power to take it again (John x. 17). The angels of 
heaven were ready to come at his command (Matt. xxvi. 
53). God acknowledged him as his " beloved Son 99 at 
his baptism, and again in the presence of Peter, James 
and John, when they were together on " the holy mount " 
(II. Peter i. 16-18). He voluntarily gave up his life 
for his enemies (Rom. v. 10). This stamped him as 
Divine. The people despised his mission. They mocked 
him, derided him, misrepresented him, persecuted him, 
treated him with scorn, spat upon him, scourged him, 
betrayed him, denied him ; yet in the face of all this 
unparalleled hatred, he voluntarily and without a mur- 
mur gave his life for them. Would a man — w r ould you 
— do this? All nature put on the garb of woe while he 
suffered (Luke xxiii. 44). Righteous men have been 
dying since Abraham, and the sun shined on as before, 
but it did not look upon the sufferings of the Lord. He 
was stronger than death or the grave (Rev. i. 18). His 
word, his salvation, fills every want of every man in 
every age. He is God with us, the Saviour of the 
world. 

Is this satisfactory ? If not, we will pursue the 
investigation farther. What do you think of the text? 
Jesus received everything from his Father. Our knowl- 
edge of the Father depends upon our knowledge of the 
Son, and our knowledge of the Son depends upon our 
knowledge of the Father. In other words, we can only 
approach the Father as the Son reveals him, and we can 
not accept one and reject the other. As a Son, Jesus was 



40 



SERMON I± 



the manifestation, revelation or reproduction of the 
Father. The New Testament sustains this proposition 
fully and clearly. Each passage comes to us as a revela- 
tion of God. I will let Jesus speak for himself: " Philip 
saith unto him, Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth 
us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time 
with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip ? he 
that hath seen me hath seen the Father ; and how sayest 
thou then, Show us the Father? Believest thou not 
that I am in the Father, and the Father in me ? The 
words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself : but 
the Father, that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. 
Believe me, that I am in the Father, and the Father in 
me : or else believe me for the very work's sake " (John 
xiv. 8-10). " All things are delivered unto me of my 
Father ; and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father ; 
neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and 
he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him " (Matt. xi. 
27). " No man hath seen God at any time ; the only 
begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he 
hath declared him" (John i. 18). " The Son can do 
nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do : 
for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son 
likewise. For the Father loveth the Son, and showeth 
him all things that himself doeth ; and he will show him 
greater works than these, that ye may marvel" (John 

v. 19, 20). "Not that any man hath seen the Father, 
save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father 99 (John 

vi. 46). " As the Father knoweth me, even so know I 
the Father " (John x. 15). " He that receiveth me 
receiveth him that sent me 99 (John xiii. 20). u If I do 
not the works of my Father, believe me not. But if I 
do, though ye believe not me, believe the works ; that 



THE REVELATION OF GOD. 



ye may know and believe that the Father is in me and I 
in him 99 (John x. 37-38). "If I had not done among 
them the works which none other man did, they had not 
had sin : but now have they both seen and hated both 
me and my Father" (John xv. 24). " For the life was 
manifested, and w T e have seen it, and bear witness, and 
show unto you that eternal life which was with the 
Father, and was manifested unto us " (I. John i. 2). 
" And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath 
given us understanding, that we may know him that is 
true ; and we are in him that is true, even in his Son 
Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life " 
(I. John v. 20). 

Everything depends upon a clear conception of the 
person of Jesus Christ. Was he a manifestation of God, 
or was he the manifestation of God ? He was with God 
" before the world w T as " (John xvii. 5), and therefore he 
knew all things. Paul say : " All things were created 
by him and for him ; and he is before all things, and by 
him all things consist " (Col. i. 16,17). John says : " In the 
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and 
the Word was God " (John i. 1). He further informs us 
that "the W ord was made flesh and dwelt among us." Is 
God invisible ? " Jesus Christ is the image of the invisible 
God " (Col. vii. 15). Do you find it hard to see God ? 
If so, " look unto Jesus " (Heb. xii. 2). " For in him 
dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily " (Col. 
ii. 9). Is God without " parts or passions" ? Jesus is 
" the brightness of his glory, the express image of his 
person" (Heb. i. ?), and is "in the form of God and 
equal with God " (Phil. ii. 6). I do not offer any inter- 
pretation of these passages; will you receive them as 
they are? They are undeniably a reflection of what the 



42 



SERMON II 



apostles believed. I prefer their company to the specu- 
lations of men, for we can not go astray if we cling to 
Jesus and to the testimony of those who were " eye- 
witnesses of his majesty." 

As before proven, God, on the account of our sins, 
could not approach us in the glory of his person and 
power ; hence, " the Word became flesh," and " God 
was in Christ reconciling the world to himself" (I. Cor. 
v. 19), and sinful humanity could live, think and act in 
his presence. Suppose Jesus had come to earth as God 
came down on Mount Sinai, would "the world have been 
attracted to him ? Certainly not; for God had said — 
and his word is irrevocable — that " There shall no man 
see me and live." Jesus Christ had a human face, but 
behind that face was the face of God. He had a body 
like ours, but within that body, human, frail and weak as 
it was, dwelled the fullness, glory and power of him on 
whose uncovered face we can not, dare not look. God 
was just as good, as sympathetic, as merciful, as ready to 
save, before Jesus came as afterward ; but men could not 
approach near enough to his presence to learn this, hence 
he approached man by " humbling himself" in. a body 
subject to death like ours. God had saved men in all 
ages ; but Jesus Christ was the Saviour himself. God 
had manifested his wisdom in all things, but Jesus Christ 
was wisdom itself. God had manifested his powder in 
creating and preserving the world, but Jesus Christ was, 
and is, and evermore shall be, the center of all power. 
God had manifested his goodness to all men, but Jesus 
Christ was goodness itself. God had manifested his 
truth, his life, his way, but Jesus Christ was u the way, 
the truth, and the life" (John xiv. 6). God had mani- 
fested his holiness in all his dealings with men, but Jesus 



THE REVELATION OF GO J). 



4:; 



Christ was holiness itself. God had manifested his 
mercy to the penitent souls of all the ages, but Jesus 
Christ was mercy itself. God had manifested his sym- 
pathy for a world in darkness, in ways past our number- 
ing, but Jesus Christ was sympathy itself. God had 
manifested his love in all things, but Jesus Christ was 
" the Son of his love " (Col. i. 13), love itself. Every- 
thing that God had revealed in " other ages " (Eph.^iii. 
5) was exhibited in its fullness, glory and perfection in 
Jesus Christ. If you have him, it matters not how poor 
you are, " all things are yours " (I. Cor. iii. 21-23). If 
you have not, you are a pauper in the sight of heaven 
(Rev. iii. 17). Jesus Christ came in order to make his 
Father known, and he revealed, through the medium of 
a human body, the eternal existence, the unfathomable 
wisdom, the inexhaustible power, the infinite resources,, 
the universal presence, the unlimited knowledge, the 
boundless sympathy, the independent personality, the 
perfect holiness, the continual goodness, the unceasing 
mercy, and the everlasting love of God. Are you 
searching after wisdom, power, truth, or salvation ? If 
so, look to Jesus the Emmanuel, the " God with us," for 
he is the concentration, the embodiment, the perfection, 
the revelation, the manifestation, the center of everything 
grand, pure and elevating, both in the human and in the 
divine. What the Father was, Jesus was ; and what 
they were in ages past, they will be forever. This set- 
tles the question of our salvation. God can not save 
us, he has no plan to save us, outside of the person and 
power of his Son. 

If I could come to you to-day with assurances that 
you could not doubt, that I had been with God, in his 
immediate presence, for two hundred years, would you 



44 



SERMON II 



believe me ? You know you would. Jesus was with 
the Father before the world was. Will you hear him ? 
Do you ask me why he came to earth ? To show us the 
Father ; to show us the eternal Spirit through his body 
of flesh; to reveal the truth, to open the road to heaven. 
We will sit at his feet and listen as he speaks of the 
past, the present, and the future. There are no myste- 
ries before his eyes, for he is God in a human body, yet 
the friend of " publicans and sinners " (Matt. ix. 11). 
He knew all history, and was therefore a competent 
witness concerning the teaching of the Old Testament. 
How the centuries buried under the wrecks of time 
revive under his mighty touch ! The saints of other 
times become real persons before our enraptured eyes, 
and the sinners who insulted God and despised the truth 
send up a wail of despair that ought to be a warning to 
us all. Whatever uncertainties may have surrounded the 
history of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Elijah, Jonah, 
Isaiah and Jeremiah, are forever destroyed by the endorse- 
ment of the Son of the Highest, " God with us." The Law, 
the Prophets and the Psalms received his unqualified en- 
dorsement, and the man who believes in him can see the 
truth of the Old Testament as no unbeliever ever did or 
ever will see it. You can not accept Jesus and reject Moses. 
Jesus came from God centuries after Moses died, and as 
lie was present at the creation his endorsement of Moses 
settles the matter for all time. The question, therefore, 
is not simply concerning the reliability of Moses, but, Is 
Jesus Christ the Son of God ? 

Paul says, "We see Jesus" (Heb. ii. 9). How, 
where, and when do we see him ? As the people saw 
him while he lived on earth ? Certainly not. We can 
and do believe those who did see him. We see him in 



THE REVELATION OF GOD. 



15 



his words, in his miracles, in his love, in his sufferings, 
in his power. Do you think we could do this without 
the knowledge of the Bible ? When you read or hear 
the sermon on the mount, do you not see him ? When 
you read the great commission, do you not see him as he 
commands his apostles to go and teach the nations ? He 
put a spirit and power into the command to go that can 
never die. What keeps this commission alive ? Jesus 
Christ is in it. Do you deny it? Why does the Bible 
live? Why is it always new? Why does it seem fresher 
and newer every day to the patient and earnest student? 
Why does it outlive all other books ? Why does its 
popularity increase with the years ? Why does it occupy 
a place in the faith and hopes of the world that no other 
book can approach ? Why has it more loving and 
devoted friends, and more malignant and bitter enemies 
than any other book ? Why is it that no man ever 
began to doubt when he sat at his mother's knee and 
listened to the reading of the Bible ? Why is it that 
every man is willing to trust the man who loves and 
obeys the truth ? Why is the man who reads, under- 
stands and obeys the Bible more conscientious and more 
submissive to the ways of Providence than men who do 
not? The only answer I can give is that the Jesus 
Christ, the manifestation of God, fills the book, and 
therefore fills every part of it — every fact, every com- 
mand, every promise. To my mind, this explains the 
apostolic declaration, " Christ in you, the hope of glory" 
(Col. i. 28). 

Our minds can grasp a person easier than an abstraet 
truth; hence Jesus is the truth, and when we know him 
we know the truth, all truth (John viii. 31-36). Why 
do professing Christians reject the commandments o f 



46 



SERMON II. 



Christ ? Because of unbelief. They do not see him in 
his word. Why do men refuse to submit to the terms of 
pardon, and through them receive the evidence of 
pardon ? Because they refuse to see Jesus in his prom- 
ises. Why do men appeal to heaven and ask for the 
Holy Spirit to come and regenerate them ? Because 
they do not believe the apostle when he says the gospel 
is " the power of God unto salvation " (Rom. i. 16). 
Why are the words of Jesus life? (John vi. 63). Be- 
cause God is in them, Jesus Christ is in them, the Holy 
Spirit is in them. Could they contain more? Are not 
they all power ? The " engrafted word " is able to save 
us (Isa. i. 21), which is another way of saying, God is 
able to save us, Jesus Christ is able to save us, the Holy 
Spirit is able to save us, for the word of truth is the 
revelation of God, of Jesus Christ, of the Holy Spirit. 
When a man is filled with the truth, God dwells in 
him (I. Cor. iii. 16), Jesus Christ dwells in him (Col. i. 
27), the Holy Spirit dwells in him (Eph. v. 18). If a man 
rejects the truth, he rejects God, he rejects the Son of God, 
he rejects the Spirit of God, for the Bible is no less than 
the revelation of God. No system of theology that rejects 
the Holy Spirit's mission through the truth can be in har- 
mony with the will of God. A theory that does not 
exalt the personality of Jesus Christ in our salvation is 
false and deceptive. We can not approach the Father, 
excepting through his Son, and we can not approach him 
excepting through the " obedience of faith," for he is 
the author of salvation to the obedient (Heb. v. 8, 9), 
but to no one else. We can not obey him unless we 
learn his will, and we can not learn his will outside of 
the Bible. It submits to our consideration the full and 
perfect revelation of a perfect and everlasting God ; 



THE REVELATION OF GOD. 



47 



Father, Son and Holy Spirit. You can not find God, the 
Saviour, or the Holy Spirit, outside of its revelations. 

How can I know that I have the Father and the 
Son, and therefore the Holy Spirit ? There is a divine and 
infallible assurance. " Jesus answered and said unto 
him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my 
Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and 
make our abode with him " (John xiv. 23). "Whoso- 
ever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of 
Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine 
of Christ, he hath both the Father and Son " (II. John 
9). Here is something we can understand; something 
on which we can rest. God has but one way of dwelling 
in us, through the truth, through the " doctrine of 
Christ." 

Do you desire salvation? Do you desire a personal 
and ever-present Saviour, who knows every hope, every 
fear and every pain you endure ? Jesus Christ came to 
earth in order that you might be saved ; that you might 
be rich in faith and hope and peace. His way is the way; 
the only way. Will you receive him? How can you 
turn away? He calls; calls to-day; calls now. Will 
you believe him, accept him, serve him, love him all 
your days ? If you will, there is no power in the uni- 
verse that can shut you out of heaven ; and at last on 
the other shore, in the city of pearly gates and jasper 
walls, we will unite with the millions of earth who have 
conquered every foe, in singing all praise " Unto him that 
loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, 
and hath made us kings and priests unto our God and 
his Father; to him be glory and dominion forever and 
ever" (Rev. i. 5, 6). 



48 



SERMON III 



SERMON III. 

THE FALL AND RESTORATION. 

Text : " For in the clay that thou eatest thereof thou shalt 
surely die " (Gen. ii. 17). 

"I am come that they might have life, and that they might 
have it more abundantly " (John x. 10). 

Genesis means creation, and the book of Genesis 
contains fifty chapters, but only a small part of it is 
strictly devoted to an account of creation. The first 
chapter declares that " In the beginning God created the 
heaven and the earth. " This is final and reasonable. 
Scientists have puzzled their brains for generations con- 
cerning the origin of the universe, but no solution has ever 
been proposed that is equal to the declaration that it is 
the product of an eternal and almighty Intelligence, for 
this simple statement carries conviction to every honest 
mind. The Bible account of creation harmonizes with 
reason and the discoveries of science, and it is therefore 
the truth. The first three chapters of Genesis tell us of 
the creation of the man and the woman; of the Garden 
of Eden ; of the temptation and transgression ; of the 
banishment of our ancestors from the garden, and the 
penalty which their sin inflicted upon them. Moses pre- 
sents in these chapters a brief view of the formation of 
natural things; the other and larger part of the Bible is 
devoted to the development of a scheme of redemption 
for the race. He introduces us to the Maker of the 
heavens and the earth ; the subsequent revelation pro- 



THE FALL AND RESTORATION. 



49 



poses to teach us to know him (John xvii. 1-4), and to 
reunite us to him forever. He gives us glorious views 
of the wisdom, power and goodness of God ; redemption 
reveals his sympathy, love and mercy. The broken law 
declares man a sinner: the culmination of the purpose 
of God in the good news of salvation proclaims Jesus 
Christ the Saviour. It emphasizes God's hatred of sin ; 
the cross of Christ reveals his love for the sinner. 
Through it we see dark, evil and threatening clouds set- 
tle down upon the pathway of man ; the unfolding of 
the will of God points us to a kingdom where clouds will 
obscure our vision no more. Man was introduced to the 
sin-cursed earth as a prisoner of death ; dishonored, dis- 
herited and undone; the Saviour proclaimed " liberty 
to the captives " (Isaiah lxi. 1), and " everlasting con- 
solation and good hope through grace " (II. Thess. ii. 16). 

Some men are astonished that so small a part of the 
Bible should be devoted to the mighty works of God in 
creation ; works in which all generations have an increas- 
ing interest; but when we reflect that he designed only 
to say enough about creation to proclaim in plain words 
his existence and power, all is clear. God did these 
works in the beginning. How far back into the unnum- 
bered ages this beginning was, we have no means of 
knowing. This is one of his secrets. He will unfold 
it at the proper time. If he had described fully, accu- 
rately and geographically everything the Bible refers to, 
we could never read it, and the impossibility of learning 
our duty would mock our cry for help. We are left to 
discover the beauty and details of creation for ourselves, 
knowing that while we dig into the bowels of the earth, 
sail over the seas, and measure the stars of heaven, there 
is a living and eternal God behind all things that we see. 



50 



SERMON III. 



The Bible is not given to prove the existence of God, for 
no one but a fool has ever doubted it (Ps. xiv. 1). It 
is not necessary to prove that which a man can not dis- 
believe if he tries. I do not believe there is an account- 
able being on the face of the earth who does not in the 
depths of his heart recognize and feel the power of God. 
His mind may be clouded with superstition, his heart 
may be hardened by the deceptions of infidelity, but he 
can not disguise the fact that he originated somewhere ) 
nor can he believe that with his erect frame, his " looks 
commercing with the skies," and the boundless possi- 
bilities of his mind, he was evolved from nothing. 
My intelligence is an unanswerable argument that my 
Creator knows more than I do. The stream can not rise 
higher than the source from which it flows. Nature 
announces the existence of God ; the Bible reveals him 
to mankind. We behold his presence in the sun, moon 
and stars, in the capabilities of his creatures ; but we 
read of his willingness and power to save us from our 
sins, in the Gospel of his Son. 

The Bible, embracing the two testaments, contains a 
great variety of history, but it is not strictly a historical 
book. It is a book of human redemption, of divine 
manifestation, of divine law, including enough history to 
identify it with men, to indicate its two-fold purpose — to 
reveal God to man, and man to himself. In other 
words, to teach us how sinful, rebellious and corrupt we 
are, and how willing God is to purify us and restore us 
to the dignity of the sons of God, and to peace and hap- 
piness. Moses gives an account of the creation of Adam 
and Eve, a few of the prominent events in their lives, 
and then passes on to other actors in the drama of sin 
and suffering. This accounts for many historical obscur- 



THE FALL AND RESTORATION. 



51 



ities. No man is permitted to occupy space in this book 
unless his life enforces a principle, unless he sustains a 
direct relation to God's purpose, the development of the 
plan of salvation ; hence men are frequently introduced, 
fill their mission and pass into oblivion in a day. 

My theme, " The Fall and Restoration of Men/' is in 
some respects a peculiar one. Not that it is a new one, 
for the phrase, especially the first part of it, is rather a 
popular one. Nor is the difficulty in the word restora- 
tion, for I use it as a synonym for redemption, or salva- 
tion. Do you ask where the peculiarity lies ? In the 
simple fact that the first part of my proposition is not 
only inappropriate, but it is unscriptural. Yes, unscrip- 
tural ; and even worse, it is absurd. Did man fall? 
Does the Bible say he fell ? Does the Old Testament 
say he fell ? Does the New Testament say he fell ? 
Does Moses say he fell ? Does Jesus Christ say he fell ? 
Do the apostles say he fell ? No. Then why do you 
say it? Be honest, now. What do you mean by it? 
Anything? Did he fall out of heaven? Did he fall out 
of Eden? Did he fall out, completely out, of the favor 
of God ? He certainly did neither. How did he 
lose his exalted place in the favor of God ? He 
sinned, he broke the law of God, he disregarded 
the word of his Maker. Does the Bible teach that 
he <lost the favor of God in the full meaning of the 
term ? Did God refuse to commune with him after he 
left the garden ? If so, where is the proof? If he did, 
what do we mean by the oft-repeated story of redeeming 
love (I. John iv. 10) ? Either redemption is a farce, or 
the supposition that God refused to commune with sin- 
ful men is a terrible mistake. Do you accept the 
former ? If not, the latter is evidently true. I do not, 



52 



SERMON III. 



I can not, deny that man sinned willfully and voluntarily, 
nor that he lost an exalted place in the estimation of his 
Creator, nor that the results of his transgression are too 
awful for the portrayal of human speech. But lean not 
let this opportunity pass to assert, with all the earnest- 
ness of which I am possessed, that the theory that man 
lost all by the transgression, is either the offspring of 
conceited ignorance, or a base and contemptible slander 
on the care, sympathy and goodness of God ! Man 
sinned, and, to put it in the strongest language possible, 
lost himself ; but he did not lose the love and mercy of 
God. Did he not show as deep an interest in man, the 
benighted sinner, as he did in man, the sinless creature? 
Do you see any such exhibitions in the Garden of Eden 
as the eye of faith can behold at the grave of Lazarus or 
upon the cross? 

To the enlargement of these thoughts and the out- 
growth of the purpose of God in redemption, I shall 
devote the remainder of this discourse. A brief examin- 
ation of man's creation will enable us to get hold of the 
subject at the proper place. First of all, I emphasize 
the fact, the fundamental fact, that God made him. He 
was not evolved from nothing. He was not the product 
of the developments of numberless years. He was not 
evolved from the lower orders of animal existence, but he 
was the intelligent offspring of the God of heaven (Acts 
xvii. 28). Man was the crowning work of creation. 
It has been said — how truthfully I leave the intelligent 
student of nature and revelation to judge — that God in 
creation began furthest from himself, and that he ap- 
proximated his own majesty and glory when he made 
man (Gen. i. 27) in his own image. Man is a double, 
a triu une being — body, spirit, soul. His body was 



THE FALL AND RESTORATION. 



53 



made of the dust. His spirit came from God. His soul, 
or life, was the result of the union of body and spirit. 
His body was perfect, full-grown, and his mind was per- 
fect in its possibilities. He came from the hands of God 
into the enjoyment of physical and intellectual manhood. 
He was given a capacity to listen to argument, to 
examine facts, and to reason concerning what he heard. 
It is impossible to lay too much stress upon the fact that 
man, like his Maker, is a thinking being; indeed, it is 
said that the name man derives its significance from this 
fact. The theory of mental or spiritual influence that 
does not harmonize with this is contrary to the constitu- 
tion of man, at war with reason, and absurd in the 
extreme. 

Primeval earth — earth without a curse upon it, fresh 
from the hands of the Creator, while the morning stars 
still sang together, and the sons of God still shouted for 
joy — was not in the estimation of God a fit place for 
man to dwell. Hence the planting of the garden. It 
was the Father's special care. He planted it. What 
care! What an exhibition of kindness and thoughtful- 
ness for man's comfort and happiness ! A tree that 
could satisfy every wish that man could frame was within 
his reach. When you think of all the fruit-bearing and 
" every tree that is pleasant to the sight" (Gen. ii. 9) in 
all the zones of earth, you have some idea of the beauty, 
the loveliness, the munificence of the Garden of Eden. 
The tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and 
evil, grew there. Adam was put into the garden to 
"dress and keep it." Do you ask how long he was 
there? I do not know, neither does any other man. 
This is not our business. We are concerned about wha 
he did and what he lost. God gave him a law. It 



54 



SERMON III. 



was clear, comprehensive and adapted to his under- 
standing. " And the Lord God commanded the man, 
saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest eat 
freely ; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and 
evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day that thou 
eatest thereof thou shalt surely die " (Gen. ii. 16, 17). 
Do you see anything wrong about this ? Anything con- 
trary to man's constitution? Nothing; manifestly noth- 
ing. He had liberty enough, and every blessing body 
or mind could ask. His birthright w T as freedom and 
happiness. Could he reasonably ask for more ? Could 
you, if you were in his place? 

The law God imposed was strictly prohibitory : 
" Thou shalt not touch it, thou shalt not eat it " (Gen. iii. 
3). Do you see anything mysterious about it? Noth- 
ing whatever. Does it contain anything abstruse or 
unintelligible? No, it is like all the laws of God; was 
expressed in such plain words that pleading ignorance as 
an excuse for its infraction was simply out of the ques- 
tion. The Lord in the Garden of Eden established a 
precedent which he has respected, and to which he 
strictly adhered during all the ages. He addressed the 
mind, the heart, the understanding, through the organ of 
hearing. He spoke in language which could be easily 
and readily understood. He did not u move upon " 
(Gen. i. 2) the minds of his intelligent offspring by the 
Spirit, as he did upon the chaotic mass out of which he 
made the earth. This was force pure and simple ; but he 
spoke to them, talked with them, commanded them, and 
their ears discerned the sounds, their minds compre- 
hended the words and caught and retained the thoughts. 
This enabled them to reason, to think and act intelli- 
gently. With the exception of those who were inspired 



THE FALL AND RESTORATION. 



55 



instruments in the hands of God for the perfection of 
his plan (II. Pet. i. 19) there never has been any devia- 
tion from this principle. God inspired the prophets and 
apostles to speak (I. Pet. i. 11, 12) to proclaim the truth, 
but the only inspiration we have to do the will of God 
comes through the will of God itself. Can you think of 
a passage that contradicts these statements? Where is 
it? I have asserted that God gave man the power to 
reason ; planted it so deeply in his constitution that 
whatever is unreasonable is contrary to his constitution. 
Let us take this proposition and the theory of " direct 
spiritual influence in order to conversion," and put them 
to the test. Will the theory harmonize with our inhe- 
rent, unchangeable and constitutional privilege to reason 
before we act? Suppose the Lord sends the Holy Spirit, 
with the immeasurable rapidity of the lightning's flash, 
and converts men " in the twinkling of an eye," as many 
believe, would this give a man any time to reason ? Can 
you see anything here on which the mind can reason, on 
which the faith can rest? God made man free to think 
and act. If he sends a direct regenerating power, man 
does not act; he becomes a machine and moves only 
when u the power" is exerted upon him. Is religion, 
therefore, the co-operation of the human and the divine? 
It is entirely the result of irresistible and omnipotent 
power. God treated our fore-parents before and after 
the transgression in harmony with their mind, their 
volition. All law, human and divine, is directed at the 
life, but through the mind. Would God create man 
and give him a mind and deny him the privilege of 
using it by treating him as a mere machine, compelled to 
move whea the power is applied whether he is willing or 
not ? Does he refuse to recognize his own creative acts? 



56 



SERMON III. 



We will do well to make a careful, marked and con- 
tinual discrimination between God's method in creating 
the world and his method of dealing with men. It can 
not and will not be denied that God's Spirit is the agent 
in both departments of work. Does God exert his 
power, upon matter, unthinking matter, and man, 
thinking man, in the same way ? Did you ever think of 
this before? What holds the worlds around above us 
into one grand system ? The power of God. How 
does he exert this power? By persuasion, by sending a 
message of love to the planets as they shine, by saying 
to them, " Come and let us reason together " (Isaiah i. 
18) ? Nothing could be more absurd. How is it done ? 
By force, just as the Spirit moved upon the dark void 
and brought order out of it at the beginning. How does 
God exert his power upon man in order to convert him? 
Just as he did to make him, as he made and governs the 
universe? No, indeed. The theory of spiritual agency 
to which I have referred proposes to place man in the 
domain of force, and, instead of putting a motive in his 
heart by giving him something to think about, by 
putting a promise before him, perform a miracle upon 
him to make him a Christian and thereby nullify every 
law constitutional and revealed. Keep these two prin- 
ciples before you, force in creation and motive power, 
or persuasion in the enlightenment and redemption of 
men ; but be careful to keep them apart ; it is dangerous 
to confound them. To my mind it is inexpressibly 
foolish to pray to God to send converting power down. 
Is there any motive power or persuasion in the modern 
system of conversion? If so, where is it? God uses 
persuasion to save ; force to punish. Adam and Eve 
were driven from the garden ; the antediluvians perished 



THE FALL AND RESTORATION. 



57 



in the flood ; the walls of Jericho fell by force. It is 
only when man gets beyond the reach of reason, or per- 
suasion that God uses force upon him, and when he does 
this, all opportunity to be saved is past. 

1 think the law that was given in the garden was suffi- 
ciently clear for the purpose for which it was given ; the 
prohibition of wrong, the encouragement of obedience. 
Indeed, God could not have consistently added a penalty 
if the law had been beyond the comprehension of man. 
The existence of such a penalty pre-supposes that the law 
could be understood, and that there was no feasible 
ground for a mistake concerning its scope, or for a mis- 
conception of its meaning. This is true of all law 
enacted by divine authority. Man's condition — mental, 
spiritual and political — is considered, #nd the law is 
framed to meet his w^ants. Hence the penalty is not an 
injustice, not an expression of tyranny ; but a reasonable 
necessity. There never has been any need of performing 
a miracle on the law to make it plain, or upon the people 
to enable them to understand it. God knows man's con- 
dition, for he made him. The law is therefore perfect in 
its adaptation to his wants. This was true in the garden. 
It was true under the law of Moses. It is true under the 
gospel of Christ (Jer. xxxi. 31-34) and will be true until 
the end of the world (Matt, xxviii. 16, 20). 

A law without a penalty is a dead letter. The 
penalty to the first law was brief and to the point : " In 
the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." Mis- 
understanding this penalty men have fallen into grievous 
errors. What did the Lord mean, natural death ? If so, 
why did man live after he sinned ? This question, which 
every thinking man propounds to himself, has led many 
theologians to the conclusion that he meaut " spiritual 



58 



SERMON III 



death. " What do you mean by this expression? Do 
you think the spirit really dies ? Can you find it in the 
Bible ? If you can not you do wrong in using it. There 
are only two deaths in the absolute meaning of the term : 
the death of the body and the death of the whole man, 
body, soul, spirit ; in other words, " the second death " 
(Rev. xx. 14). Is a man ever dead until " the pitcher is 
broken at the fountain/* until the spirit departs from the 
body ? Is a man dead, as implied in the phrase, " the 
second death," until he has passed beyond the judgment, 
beyond the reach of truth, beyond the love of God 
exhibited in the gospel, beyond hope ? A man may be 
physically incapacitated for the performance of labor or 
the enjoyment of happiness, and in a certain sense be 
dead. So may ^ man be deficient in will power through 
long and continued indulgence in sin ; weak in faith 
through the corrupting influence of vice ; nearly devoid 
of love and gratitude through the reign of covetousness in 
his heart ; unable, without the power of the truth, to do 
the will of God ; in short, " dead in tresspasses and in sins 9 
(Eph. ii. 1) ; but the second death, in its full and awful 
meaning, lies beyond time. What did the Lord mean by 
death in this passage ; the death of the body, the second 
death, or both ? In my judgment, and I think the Scrip- 
tures sustain me in it, he meant both. Let us enter into 
a careful examination of this passage, the language par- 
ticularly. When he placed the man and the woman in 
the garden he said, according to the marginal reading, 
according to the literal meaning of the Hebrew which 
Moses wrote : " Eating thou shalt eat." Do you think 
there is anything peculiar about this ? I do. Do you 
ask what it is ? Suppose I take you to my garden or 
orchard, give it to you for a home, put you into it and 



THE FALL AND RESTORATION. 



m 



say to you : " Eating thou shalt eat.V What would you 
understand by this permission ? That you were to eat 
enough to satisfy present wants, and stop ? You would 
certainly decide that my words meant : You may eat, you 
may begin now, you may continue indefinitely. The 
penalty, according to the same authority, assumes pre- 
cisely the same form : " Dying thou shalt die." I think 
this means : If you violate my law you shall be exposed 
to death ; you shall become the victim of sorrow, pain 
and disappointment ; you shall be driven away from the 
tree of life, and your body shall return to the dust from 
which it came (Gen. iii. 19), and inasmuch as sin shall 
bind you as a chain you shall be exposed to the second 
death, which is eternal. This view is sustained by the 
actual results of the transgression. His body lived and 
his spirit lived, although subject to death and contami- 
nated by sin. If this is not its meaning, where is one 
that will harmonize with all the facts in the case and the 
subsequent revelations of the Bible ? Let those who are 
able answer, for I frankly admit that I can not. 

These suggestions and explanations bring us to the 
consideration of the two great facts in the history of man : 
The departure and the return to God. I think w T e have 
lost much in our battles with error by our unscriptural 
methods of speaking. I think we have lost much by 
constantly ringing the changes on the fall. Why not 
come down to pure and unadulterated facts, and say he 
sinned, violated the law T ? I object to this term because it 
makes an erroneous impression. If a man were standing 
on a platform fourteen steps above the ground, he could 
only get down by a sudden fall, or by descending step by 
step. If he is on the ground he can only reach the ele- 
vation by ascending step by step, or by the work of an 



GO 



SERMON III. 



almighty power that simply grasps him and elevates him 
to the desired place. If man fell/ as most people suppose, 
it is natural to presume that he must be restored by the 
work of naked omnipotence, without consulting his mind 
or his wishes. If, by the assistance of the devil, he went 
down step by step until he reached the deepest depths of 
sin, it is logical to conclude that by the assistance of 
Jesus Christ he may ascend, step by step, until he reaches 
the highest heights of " glory, honor, immortality and 
eternal life " (Rom. ii. 5). I emphatically and unre- 
servedly affirm that man did not fall ; he sinned. When 
I hear men say that he fell, I am led to think that he was 
so maimed, and bruised, and disabled, there was nothing 
left of him but filth, sin and degradation. It is taught in 
the creeds and proclaimed from the pulpits that he lost 
all ability of will and became wholly inclined to evil. 
Do the facts recorded by Moses justify such conclu- 
sions? I think not. We demand facts. There is too 
much assertion without proof. The world has been bur- 
dened with dogmatic declarations long enough. Again 
I ask, do the facts justify the conclusion that Adam and 
Eve fell, in the popular acceptation of the term? Did 
they fall out of a perfect manhood and womanhood into 
a state of absolute barbarism? Did they become 
heathens or savages by breaking the law? Were they 
greater sinners, heathens, savages or barbarians than 
your children are when they pass the line of account- 
ability and violate the law of God ? Were they any less 
the objects of the Father's love than the thousands of 
sinners who disobey him every day ? 

I have already stated that it is more scriptural, more 
reasonable, more in harmony with common sense, to say 
man sinned than to say he fell. I think you accept this 



THE FALL AND RESTORATION. 



61 



conclusion. There is another phase of the subject that 
we can not afford to neglect. It is claimed that all men 
fell in Adam; that as he was the father of all mankind 
all men sinned in him, and that Ave, therefore, inherit sin 
from our ancestors, and that we are sinners from birth. 
This being true, I am to answer for what I inherit with- 
out any desire, will or volition of my own, as well as for 
my own acts. Can this be true ? If you can believe 
that you are accountable for the violation of a law that 
was given and broken six thousand years before your life 
began, you have credulity enough to believe anything, 
and it seems to me you might use your power in believing 
some parts of the New Testament that you have hereto- 
fore neglected, such as burial is baptism, Christian unity, 
or the power of truth. What is sin ? The answer to 
this question ought to settle the matter. " Sin is the 
transgression of the law" (I. John iii. 4). This rule 
has never had an exception in the history of the world. 
Adam sinned when he broke the law that God gave him. 
The Jews sinned when they violated the law of Moses. 
We sin when we refuse to hear the voice of God in the 
gospel of Jesus Christ (Heb. xii. 25). We share the 
consequences — sickness, suffering, tears and death — of 
Adam's transgression, and in no way the guilt. He did 
not violate the law for me, for you, for every man, but 
for himself; hence the ■■ Adamic sin," the supposition 
that sin is transmitted from one generation, and com- 
municated from one man to another, is false — the child 
of some speculative, superstitious, sectarian brain. We 
have enough sins of our own to answer for, without 
becoming accountable for the sins of other. Why should 
I be held responsible for the sins of my predecessors ? 
Where is the justice in such a procedure ? If I inherit 



62 



SERMON in. 



sin from Adam, why not from Noah, from my father? I 
I am answerable for all the sins that have been com- 
mitted from Adam down, my condition is certainly 
beyond the hope of redemption. Either I share the 
guilt and responsibility of the sins of all my fathers 
from Adam down, or I am not responsible for any save 
my own. There is no escape from this. The method of 
reasoning prevalent in our pulpits is this : Adam sinned 
first. He was the head or representative of the race, of 
all men. Therefore all men sinned in him. The prem- 
ises do not, in my judgment, justify the conclusion. 
Why not sever the process and hold Adam accountable 
for my sins, for the sins of the world? He committed 
the first sin. In consequence of this act, God drove him 
away from the tree of life, and we inherit a frail body — 
a body susceptible of temptation — from him. He was 
in as good, if not better, place to resist temptation, or 
evil, as we are. It is just as reasonable and just to hold 
him accountable for our sin's as to hold us accountable 
for his. I thank God that I am only guilty in his sight 
of my own sins (Ezek. xviii. 4), and the supposition that 
I am responsible for the sins of others, because they 
lived before me, is purely imaginary. Jesus Christ, in 
his death on the cross, made provision for the forgive- 
ness of u our sins" (I. Cor. xv. 1-6), our personal trans- 
gressions ; but none whatever for our hereditary sins. 
What does this signify ? Either that we have no sins but 
our own, or the atonement is insufficient to save a single 
man, and the world is doomed. Picture to yourselves a 
man trying to repent of Adam's sins, or the sins of his 
father ! A man can not repent without a motive. Where 
is the motive to lead to such a repentance ? The 
answer is short and decisive. There is no such sin, and 



THE FALL AND RESTORATION. 



63 



therefore no such repentance. Seek to be cleansed from 
your own sins. This involves your eternal all. 

How did man become a sinner ? Let us look into 
the particulars. The serpent, cunning^artful, wicked, 
approached the woman. He did not use any mysterious 
means to reach her mind. He seemed to understand 
something about the nature of man, for he began to talk, 
reason, persuade. He did not use any forcible means of 
ejectment, but addressed himself to the woman, and 
through her the man. Note the conversation. " And 
he said unto the woman, Yea hath God said, Ye shall 
not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman 
said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees 
of the garden, but of the fruit of the tree which is in the 
midst of the garden God hath said, Ye shall not eat of 
it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the ser- 
pent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die, for 
God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof then your 
eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing 
good and evil " (Gen. iii. 1-5). This Scripture places 
additional emphasis on what I have said concerning 
spiritual influence. Even the devil himself adopted 
means in harmony with the constitution of man. Step 
by step he proceeded with his deceptive argument until 
his hearer was convinced ; until she turned away from 
God ; until she took of the forbidden tree and gave also 
to her husband (Gen. iii. 6). In a moment they felt 
their guilt; for guilt, a deep realization of it, inevitably 
follows wrong doing. Of what were they guilty? Of 
doing what God told them not to do. When did they 
become guilty ? When they heard the deviPs argument? 
When they received it, believed it? When they turned 
from God ? Their disobedience was not complete until 



64 



SERMON III 



they had broken a positive divine law. In other words, 
not until they had touched and partaken of the forbidden 
tree. Hearing and believing the argument of Satan 
were only preparatory to the final, the actual, transgres- 
sion. Bear this in mind and it will assist you greatly in 
comprehending the restoration or redemption, the law 
of pardon through Jesus the Christ. 

Did God send an angel to drive them out of . the 
garden? No. Did he send some dark and mysterious 
pow r er to execute the penalty of the insulted law? By 
no means. He walked into the garden as before. Adam 
and his wife hid themselves among the trees of the gar- 
den. Why did they do this? Because they had lost 
their power of thought, their will power? The Bible 
clearly teaches that they did it because they were afraid ; 
because they realized their guilt. If they lost all ability 
of will and became wholly inclined to evil, if their 
minds became so clouded and if they became such barba- 
rians as some of the theologians seem to think, how did 
they know anything about their condition? How did 
they know that they were naked? How did they know 
anything ? They had as good minds after the trans- 
gression as they did before. Who can produce any proof 
to the contrary ? Their memory was not destroyed, for 
they remembered every particular of the temptation and 
transgression. Adam knew enough to blame his wife 
and she attempted to excuse herself by saying that the 
serpent had deceived her. They did not lose a single 
faculty, mental, moral or spiritual, but they subsequently 
lost their home in the garden, and became exposed to 
sorrow, sickness and death. That they still possessed 
the ability to use their mental faculties as they did 
before the transgression, is fully sustained by the fact 



THE FALL AND RESTORATION. 



85 



that God talked with them as he had done before. 
Would he have spoken to them if they had lost their 
ability to understand? Has God ever addressed man in 
language that he could not understand? If so, when 
and where? If you will do some honest thinking along 
this line of argument you will soon discover that there is 
much embraced in the creeds and published throughout 
the land under the guise of truth that is nothing but 
the rankest error and speculation. God drove them out. 
Why did he do this? In order that he might satisfy 
the demands of his broken law, in order that they might 
die. Did the Lord mean instantaneous death when he 
said, " Dying thou shalt die 99 ? If so why did he drive 
them out of the garden to keep them away from the 
tree of life? If he meant what is generally called 
" spiritual death," they were already dead ; 4ience the 
testimony of the apostle : " When lust hath conceived it 
bringeth forth sin ; and sin, when it is finished, bringeth 
forth death 99 (Jas. i. 15). Sin was not finished in Adam 
until after the expiration . of nine hundred and thirty 
years (Gen. v. 5). The death of the body is progressive, 
and the " second death " lies beyond the death of the 
body. 

We have only a brief account of the descent or 
departure of man from God, but it brings out some 
important facts. How many downward steps did he 
take ? Please count as I rehearse. (1) Man's exalted posi- T 
tion in the garden and in the favor of God. (2) The 
tempter. (3) The argument in his mind. (4) Speaking 
to or addressing the mind. (5) Hearing and consider- 
ing. (6) Deciding, accepting, believing. (7) Turning 
from God. (8) Turning to evil. (9) Disobeying the 
law. (10) Guilt realized by the sinner. (11) Con- 



66 



SERMON III 



demnation. (12) Banishment from the garden. (13) 
The beginning of death. (14) The gates of Eden were 
closed and the tree of life was guarded by a sentinel 
appointed by the Lord. I think I have a right to ask 
you, in view of these distinct facts, if you think man fell ? 
When he stepped out of the garden he began to die, and 
therefore plunged himself and his descendants into mor- 
tality and its attendant frailties. We do not inherit sin 
from Adam, for, as before shown, sin is the result of 
doing; the " transgression of the law." We die naturally 
because of Adam/s sin, but if we die eternally it will be 
the result of our own sins. This is the reason that 
infants die, although they are as innocent of sin, actual 
transgression of the laws of God, as the angels of heaven 
(Rom. v. 14). The old dogma that has worked into the 
faith of some that all men are responsible for Adam's 
sins, and that the elect infants dying in infancy are regen- 
erated in death, and that the non-elect are consigned to 
hell for the glory of God, is worse than infidelity — the 
very climax of sin-inspired ignorance, and blacker than 
the darkness of the bottomless pit ! 

What is meant by the restoration of man? That 
God redeems, saves or restores him unconditionally, or 
that he assists him to retrace his steps? Man can not by 
his own efforts save himself from the guilt- and conscious- 
ness of sin. If God saves him, therefore, he will be 
worthy of all glory and praise, whether he does it condi- 
tionally or unconditionally. Who is the greater 
philanthropist, the man who puts a poor, struggling 
mortal in a position to help himself, or the man who does 
it all for him ? Unquestionably the former. This is 
precisely what God has done for us. By the life (John 
x. 10) and death (I. Pet. ii. 24) of his only begotten Son 



THE FALL AJ\D RESTORATION. 



67 



he placed us in a position to help ourselves, to save our- 
selves (Acts ii. 40). God was reconciled to us through 
his Son; and we must therefore be reconciled to him (II. 
Cor. v. 14-23). He has done his part, and we must do 
our part or perish. The theory of a direct regenerating 
power is supported by men who are still praying for God 
to be reconciled to men, when the Bible teaches that he 
•has been reconciled to us ever since Jesus died (Rom." v. 
6-8). It is useless and dangerous in the extreme for us to 
pray to God to accept us unless we accept the Redeemer 
and do what he commands. What would you tbink of a 
beggar who would refuse to eat the bread you put within 
his reach, and show his contempt for your kindness by 
praying for you to satisfy his hunger ? Such a man is 
just as consistent as the man who prays for pardon while 
refusing to submit to the terms of pardon dictated by 
Jesus Christ. Would you, could you bless and help the 
beggar who scorns your benevolence? W T ill God save a 
man who rejects the gospel of Christ and attempts to 
" climb up some other way " (John x. 1) ? Reconciliation 
is already here within your grasp. W T ill you accept it? 
Will you accept it on the conditions submitted by him 
who bought you with his own precious blood ? (I. Cor. 
vi. 20). 

What are the conditions on which men are reconciled 
to God ? Here are the propositions corresponding to 
those in the transgression. Man's sinful and helpless 
condition. " When we were without strength, in due 
time Christ died for the ungodly" (Rom. v. 6). " The 
grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to 
all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and 
worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously and 
godly in this present world" (Ti. ii. 11, 12). The 



68 



SERMON III. 



grace or favor of God was " the grace of our Lord Jesus 
Christ " (II. Cor. viii. 9), manifested to us when we 
were unable to help ourselves. We appropriate this 
grace " through faith " (Eph. ii. 8) and obedience (Acts 
x. 34, 35). (2) Jesus Christ, the manifestation of God 
^o human minds and human eyes. " God was manifested 
in the flesh » (I. Tim. iii. 16). (3) The will of God 
revealed through Christ. " Christ the power of God, 
and the wisdom of God " (I. Cor. i. 24). (4) Speaking 
to or addressing the minds of men. " I will put my law 
in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts " (Jer. 
xxxi. 33). " Hear and understand" (Matt. xv. 10). 
(5) Hearing and considering the demands of the truth. 
" Hear, O heaven, and give ear, O earth ; for the Lord 
hath spoken" (Isaiah i. 2). " Because he considereth, 
and turneth away from all his transgressions that he 
hath committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die " 
(Ezk. xviii. 28). (6) Deciding, accepting, believing. 
" Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power " 
(Ps. ex. 3). " I will arise and go to my father " (Luke 
xv. 18). " Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou 
shalt be saved" (Acts xvi. 31). (7) Turning to God. 
"Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you" 
(Jas. iv. 8). (8) Turning from sin. " Let the wicked 
forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts ; 
and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have 
mercy upon him • and to our God, for he will abund- 
antly pardon " (Isaiah lv. 7). (9) Obedience to the 
positive divine law in baptism for the remission of sins. 
" But ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doc- 
trine which was delivered unto you, being then made 
free from sin, ye become the servants of righteousness " 
(Rom. vi. 17, 18). "Arise, and be baptized, and wash 



THE FALL AND RESTORATION. 



69 



away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord " (Acts 
xxii. 16). (10) Pardon an act of God received and 
enjoyed by the obedient believer through the promises of 
the Lord Jesus Christ. " I will forgive their iniquity, 
and I will remember their sin no more " (Jer. xxxi. 34). 
u It is God that justifieth " (Rom. viii. 33). " And we 
are his witnesses of these things, so is also the Holy 
Spirit whom God hath given to them that obey him " 
(Acts v. 32). (11) Justification through faith and 
works. " Therefore, being justified by faith, we have 
peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ " (Rom. 
v. 1). " Ye see then how that by works a man is justified 
and not by faith only" (Jas. ii. 24). (12) Citizenship 
in the kingdom of God. " Who hath delivered us from 
the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the 
kingdom of his dear Son j in whom we have redemption 
through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins" (Col. i. 
13, 14). (13) The beginning of the new life. " There- 
fore if any man be in Christ he is a new creature; old 
things are passed away ; behold all things are become 
new" (II. Cor. v. 16). "I am crucified with Christ, 
nevertheless I live ; yet not I, but Christ Jiveth in me; 
and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the 
faith of the Son of God, who t loved me and gave himself 
for me" (Gal. ii. 20). (14) The gates of heaven ajar. 
" By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated 
for us through the veil, that is to say, his flesh " (Heb. 
x. 20). " Blessed are they that do his commandments, 
that they may have right to the tree of life, and may 
enter in through the gates into the city" (Rom. xxii. 
14). There were fourteen steps from Eden down to the 
helplessness of sin, and there are fourteen steps from sin 
to g heaven. Behold the contrast. The garden and its 



70 



SERMON III. 



delights; sin and its consequences. The tempter ; Jesus 
Christ, the Saviour. The argument in Satan's mind ; 
the will of God in Christ. Speaking a falsehood ; 
preaching the truth. Hearing and considering a lie; 
hearing and considering the claim of Christ. Deciding 
for the evil, believing the lie and accepting its conse- 
quences; deciding for the truth, believing in Jesus, 
accepting the authority of the apostles. Turning from 
God, turning to sin ; turning to God, turning from 
sin. Disobeying the law; obeying the gospel. Con- 
demnation the act of God; pardon the act of God. Ban- 
ishment from God ; membership in the Church of Christ. 
The beginning of death; the beginning of life. The 
gates of Eden closed ; the gates of heaven ajar. Believ- 
ing a lie and turning from God were preparatory steps 
to the violation of the law, and believing the gospel and 
turning from sin prepares a man to obey the truth and 
become a child of God. The transgression involved 
three changes. The restoration embraces the same. 
Read the account and you will discover that there was a 
change of heart, life and relationship, and in each par- 
ticular the change was toward sin, away from God. The 
gospel simply reverses this process of departure, and 
restores man to God. 

The way to heaven is strait and plain, and you 
will never reach it unless you turn from your sins. You 
can not take two steps at a time, nor can you step over 
or neglect whatever you dislike. You can not believe and 
turn from sin, and neglect obedience to the law of liberty. 
Do you refuse to be baptized? Why? Because you 
can not see how it can wash away your sins ? I presume 
Adam and Eve could not see how eating fruit could take 
away holiness, but it did. It was not the fruit; it was 



THE FALL AND RESTORATION. 



71 



disobedience to God. If disobedience, as the result 
of unbelief, made man a sinner, there is no doubt that 
obedience to the law of Jesus Christ, which he sanctified 
with his own blood, will remove every stain of sin and 
make us children of God. It is a question of faith. Do 
you believe in Christ? Are you willing- to do what he 
commands and trust him for w r hat he has promised ? He 
has said, and his promise can not fail, that the obedient 
believer "shall be saved " (Mark xvi. 16). Shall be 
saved ! Grand and glorious promise ! Would to God I 
could ring it through all the lands and seas of earth. 
Can you well doubt his word? 



72 



SERMON IV 



SERMON IV 

THE REGENERATION. 

Text : " Then answered Peter and said unto him, Behold, 
we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have 
therefor ? And Jesus said unto them, Verily, I say unto you, 
That ye that have followed* me, in the regeneration, when the 
Son of man small sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit 
upon twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel " (Matt, 
xix. 27, 28). 

What is regeneration ? Why is regeneration needed ? 
What produces regeneration ? How does a man know, or 
what evidence can he have, of his regeneration ? Can a 
man do anything towards the regeneration of other men, 
of the world? Can a man do anything toward his own 
regeneration ? What is meant by " the regeneration " of 
the text? What does the Apostle Paul mean by " the 
washing of regeneration" (Titus iii. 5) ? Is regeneration 
through the gospel, or is it the result of a power outside 
of the gospol ? Is the religious world agreed on the 
meaning of this proposition? Can the world be brought 
to Christ while his professed followers are not agreed 
touching the way it is to be done? If a man has been 
regenerated, is he saved, justified, adopted? Is he a 
Christian? Is he what the New Testament iequires 
that he shall be? Will our knowledge of " the regen- 
eration increase" with our knowledge of the truth ? 

These are important questions, and I ask your earnest 
attention while I attempt to discuss them in the light ot 



THE REGENERATION. 



73 



the gospel. If it does not solve these mighty problems 
they are mysteries that can not be penetrated by human 
power, hence our constant inquiry shall be, What does 
the Bible say? What does it ask us to believe? What 
does it command ? What does it promise? I shall first 
attempt to answer them in the light of the theology of 
the present day, and afterward in the light of the apos- 
tolic times. It is not a pleasant task to discuss the 
shortcomings, contradictions and inconsistencies of those 
who consider themselves the exponents of the Christian 
religion ; bat my allegiance to the Bible, my account- 
ability to God for what T do not say if I fail to " speak 
as the oracles of God " (I. Pet. iv. 11) and my interest 
in the souls of men demand that I shall oppose error, 
combat superstition, and " preach the word " (II. Tim. 
iv. 2) without compromising with tradition or specula- 
tion. In order to put the matter to a practical test, 
interview a few of your religious neighbors and ask them 
the simple question, What is regeneration? and you will 
be surprised at the diversity of answers which you will 
receive. Your astonishment will be greatly increased 
when you find that no two of the answers are precisely 
alike, and that to the popular mind regeneration is a 
deeply mysterious subject. While they profess to have 
passed through it, and to have experienced its blessings, 
they are not certain what it means. Ignorance of the 
Bible is truly alarming ; but is it any w 7 onder when w r e 
consider that men are taught, when the preachers assert, 
when a large majority of professing Christians believe 
and sincerely advocate to the extent of their ability, that 
regeneration is an act of God outside and independent of 
the revelation of his will recorded in the Bible ? I affirm, 
without fear of successful contradiction, that the advo- 



74 



SERMON IV. 



catesof the direct work of the Holy Spirit in conversion 
are largely responsible for the prevailing, widespread 
and astonishing indifference to Bible study. Why should 
I study the Bible; why should I hide the law of God 
(Ps. cxix. 11) in my heart ; why should I meditate upon 
its principles, precepts and provisions " day and night" 
(Ps. i. 2), if it is a sealed book, if I can not understand it 
until God unlocks it by opening my heart by a regener- 
ating process, or power that rules out all co-operation 
between the human and the divine, and sets aside all 
human accountability and all divine law? Why should 
I "search the Scriptures" (John v. 39) if they are not 
enough to save me until the Lord imparts additional 
power ? Why should I study to be an approved work- 
man in the preaching of the word (II. Tim. ii. 15) if I 
enjoy a direct communication with God as the apostles 
claimed ? Men reason concerning the demands of 
religion, and as they have been taught from childhood to 
believe that regeneration is the work of the Spirit out- 
side of the word of truth, they naturally lay the Bible 
aside as a meaningless book. Why should they not? 
Is it reasonable or just to expect a man to devote his 
time to the investigation of a book that he can not 
understand, that will not do him any good? To what 
inconsistencies men are driven by speculation, this order 
of speculation particularly! Pious and God-fearing 
people, people who are deeply concerned about their 
future happiness, pray in their families and in the church 
for God to send converting power down upon their chil- 
dren and neighbors; say in their presence that God 
alone can do the work, and then exhort, beg, entreat 
them to read the Bible inasmuch as it contains the will 
of God, the way of salvation ! Preachers expound the 



THE REGENERATION. 



75 



Bible in the public places, exhort the people to receive 
its teachings and obey its commands, and close by 
informing them that regeneration and deliverance from 
sin are the work of the Holy Spirit, and that they can 
not do anything until " the power " comes down. Hence 
they pray for the Lord to come down and save the peo- 
ple. The Bible is a good book in which to find a text ; 
an arsenal where every sect may go and secure arms and 
ammunition for the great religious warfare ; but as a 
regenerating power they completely ignore it. It mat- 
ters not what the Bible reveals, commands or promises, 
it is ruled out and God is urged to pour out his Spirit 
and regenerate the people. O blindness, the incon- 
sistency, the bigotry, the skepticism, the darkness, the 
contradiction, the destruction, of religious superstition ! 
Modern religious denominations, taking their revivals as 
criteria, and their preachers as witnesses, have more 
fanaticism, more speculation, more animal excitement 
than revealed religion, apostolio Christianity. 

They do not give the credit to the gospel, which is 
"the power of God unto -alvation to every one that 
believeth " (Rom. i. 16), and they completely neglect the 
conditions on which the Bible promises forgiveness, and 
place all the stress upon the sinner's willingness to pray 
and the willingness of the church to pray for him. This 
is a severe charge, and I assure you that it gives me no 
pleasure to make it; but the truth must be told, it mat- 
ters not who suffers as the result. If you doubt the 
truthfulness of this accusation open your Bible and com- 
pare its requirements with the practices of the people 
around you, and you will be convinced. I believe in God, 
I therefore believe he will hear and answer prayer if it 
does not exceed the bounds of his promises ; but no man 



7(5 



SERMON IV. 



is promised pardon in answer to prayer unless he mixes 
obedience with his petition. These misconceptions of 
what regeneration means lie at the foundation, and are 
therefore the source of numerous and soul-destroying 
errors. When men rule the Bible — the will of God 
expressed in the gospel of Christ — out of the regener- 
ating process, is it any wonder that they do not hesitate 
to deny any part of it, or attempt to rule out its ordi- 
nances, or modify their force, which is the same? Is it 
any wonder that they do not rely on the promises of the 
gospel as an evidence of pardon, and place their hopes 
for salvation on a claim that they have received the 
baptism of the Holy Spirit as the apostles did? I am 
not surprised that the preaching and work of the apostles 
should be neglected by people who claim the same inspi- 
ration and direct assistance that they enjoyed. I affirm, 
and I challenge investigation, that the converts of 
modern revivals, according to their own testimony, as 
seen in the endless variety of experiences which they 
tell, do not claim less infallible guidance than the apos- 
tles of Jesus Christ claimed. What are the results of 
such pretensions? The experience of one man is quoted 
as guide for another, and the apostles are not even 
referred to.- The apostles received the baptism of the 
Holy Spirit in order that they might be guided into all 
truth (John xiv. 26), but their testimony is no better 
authority than the testimony of men who live to-day, if 
thev have received the same baptism from on high. 
Does the New Testament sustain men in such claims as 
these ? Did Jesus Christ promise the baptism of the 
Holy Spirit to all the world, or even to the church of 
all ages. He did not. Do you deny the assertion? I 
am open to conviction. Present your proof. There 



THE REGENERATION. 



77 



have been, according to the Bible, only two baptisms of 
the Holy Spirit since the beginning of time : one on the 
day of Pentecost (Acts ii. 1-4) the other at the house of 
Cornelius, the Gentile (Acts x. 44-46). Peter declares 
that they were the seme (Acts xi. 15). Here are the 
facts developed on each occasion. Can you point to 
anything similar to them in modern times? (1) They 
were all with one accord and in one place. (2) A 
sound, yes, an audible sound, came down from heaven. 
(3) It came like a rushing, mighty wind. (4) It filled 
all the house where they were sitting. (5) Cloven 
tongues similar to fire set upon each of them. (6) They 
were all filled with the Holy Spirit. (7) They spoke 
with " other tongues," or languages which they had 
never learned. Behold the pretended baptisms of the 
Holy Spirit of our times. Do they correspond or agree? 
(1) The people are never in one accord ; there are 
divisions among them. (2) No sound is ever heard from 
heaven. (3) No rushing mighty wind ever attests the 
descent of the Spirit of truth. (4) No house is ever 
filled with miraculous power. (5) Cloven tongues like 
unto fire do not sit upon the people. (6) Persons here 
and there claim that they have received the baptism of 
the Spirit. (7) They do not, can not, prove their 
professions by speaking with other tongues or in lan- 
guages which they have never learned. Have you 
received the baptism of the Holy Spirit? Can you 
prove your assertion by speaking in Hebrew, Latin or 
Greek ? If your profession can not be confirmed by 
such manifestations it is self-condemned, or it transcends 
the bounds of the promise of Jesus Christ and the 
authority of his apostles. 

These preliminary observations are necessary now ; 



78 



SERMON IV. 



but in the days of the apostles such remarks would have 
been entirely irrelevant, for during those times men went 
everywhere preaching the word (Acts viii. 4). They 
labored under the infallible direction of the Spirit of 
truth, believing that the truth was sufficient to save the 
people (Acts x. 14), because it was pure truth ; truth fresh 
from the mind of God. No thinking man can fail to 
perceive the difference. O for the religion of Jesus, pure 
and clear as it was when he published it to the world ! 

The passage that I quoted as an introduction to this 
discourse contains a promise made to the apostles, and it 
contains much food for reflection. Observe the punctu- 
ation. Jesus did not say : " You that have followed me 
in the regeneration," but " You that have followed 
me ; 99 for " the regeneration" to which he referred had 
not begun, indeed its beginning was still some distance 
in the future. A slight "change in the arrangement of 
the words will enable us to understand what the Master 
said : " Verily I say unto you, In the regeneration when 
the Son of Man shall sit upon the throne of his glory, 
ye that have followed me shall sit upon twelve thrones 
judging the twelve tribes of Israel." The regeneration 
refers to a definite period in the history of the world, in 
the plan of redemption. It does not imply simply one 
act, but it embraces the whole plan ; all God has done 
for us, all he requires us to do for ourselves, and all he 
promises to do for us in the future. Does " the regener- 
ation" mean any more or less than " the gospel" (Rom. 
i. 16); " the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus" 
(Rom. viii. 2) ; " the fullness of the time " (Gal. iv. 4) ; 
" the dispensation of the fullness of time " (Eph. i. 10) ; 
"a new and living way " (Heb. x. 20); or " the perfect 
law of liberty " (Jas. i. 25)! Jesus placed the regenera- 



THE REG EN ERA TION. 



79 



tion in the future, hence he did not refer to the law of 
Moses, or to the work that he was doing at the time this 
promise was made. This regeneration was to begin 
when he entered into the throne of his glory. When 
did he enter the throne of glory? " To him that 
overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, 
even as I also overcame, and am sat down with my 
Father in his throne" (Rev. iii. 21). When did he 
overcome? "I am he that liveth, and was dead; and 
behold I am alive for evermore, amen ; and have the 
keys of hell and of death" (Rev. i. 18). " And declared 
to be the Son of God with power, according to the 
spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead" 
(Rom. i. 4). He entered into the throne of his glory 
when he entered into heaven by his own blood, and not 
before (Heb. ix. 12). The " throne of glory" doubtless 
implies the throne of authority. Every word that is 
uttered from this throne is unchangeable, enduring and 
eternal. It is impossible to separate the regeneration 
and the throne of glory. Jesus Christ put them together ; 
who will dare to attempt to put them asunder? Jesus 
evidently meant to impress on the minds of the apostles 
the fact that through their preaching he would at the 
proper time revolutionize — "turn the world upside 
down " (Acts xvii. 6). When did he turn the world 
upside down ? During his life and labors on earth ? His 
labors were confined to the land of the Jews — a very 
small part of the world. When did he sit on the throne 
of his glory — while on earth ? He did not even have a 
place on which to lay his head (Matt. viii. 20). When 
did he claim all authority in heaven and in earth? 
When he was born in Bethlehem ; when he was baptized 
of John in the Jordan (Mark i. 9) ; when he called the 



80 



SERMON IV. 



apostles, or when he sent them forth to preach the gospel 
of the kingdom (Matt. x. 5) ; when he spoke in para- 
bles (Matt. xiii. 34, 45) ; when he suffered and prayed 
in the Garden of Gethsemane (Luke xxii. 39) ; or when 
he suffered and died upon the cross ? No. According 
to his'own words he came, not to do his own will, but to 
do his Father's will and manifest the Father's name and 
power (John xvii. 16). He adhered strictly to this mis- 
sion to the end of his life (Heb. x. 5-9), and in one of the 
most solemn and impressive prayers ever uttered on 
earth he said : " I have glorified thee on the earth ; I have 
finished the work thou gavest me to do 99 (John xvii. 4). 
After his resurrection, but never before, he announced 
that all power or authority had been give unto his hands 
(Matt xxviii. 18). 

The Lord laid great stress upon the fact that the 
apostles had followed him, and he places just as much 
stress upon the importance of following him now. 
Indeed, he gave them this promise of a grand position 
in the restoration of the world because they had followed 
him faithfully even when they were in the dark (Mark 
ix. 10). They manifested a disposition to do their best, 
and leave the results with their Teacher. Here is a les- 
son for us. When God commands, it is our duty to 
obey ; when he leads, it is our duty to follow, whether we 
can comprehend the results or not. This is part of our 
religious education. Why did these men follow Jesus? 
Because they loved him. O the power of an earnest and 
consecrated man who loves the Lord with all his heart! 
They followed him and received undoubted evidence of 
his love and divinity. They — Peter, James and John — 
were with him w T hen Moses and Elijah laid their victo- 
ries and trophies at his feet; when he unlocked the 



THE REGENERATION. 



81 



mystic gates and gave them a glimpse of his glory and 
the hereafter; when the Father's voice resounded 
through earth and sky : " This is my beloved Son ; hear 
ye him " (Mark ix. 2-10)! They were with him when 
God proved him by miracles, wonders and signs (Heb. ii. 
3, 4). They forsook everything for him, and shared his 
poverty and suffering. They listened to his voice as the 
voice of God. They sat down with him at his last pass- 
over, and received the loaf and cup as memorials of him 
for all time (Luke xxii. 19, 20). What they suffered dur- 
ing the three days from the passover until they were 
convinced of his resurrection no mortal tongue can ever 
tell. They saw him, they ate with him, they handled 
him, they knew him after he arose from the dead (John 
xxi. 12). Luke says the evidences of his return to life 
were numerous and infallible, no possibility of a mistake 
(Acts i. 3). They caught the spirit of his life, his truth, 
his self-denial, his self-sacrifice, his kingdom. They saw T 
him ascend heavenward, and the bright cloud received 
him out of sight. By faith they saw him enter into 
heaven as the mighty conqueror of death and the grave. 
They saw him recognized as a the King of kings and 
Lord of lords" (I. Tim. vi. 15). They saw him carry 
our ransomed nature up to " the throne of glory " and 
become our great high priest " after the pow r er of an end- 
less life" (Heb. vii. 16), while the angels of heaven 
bowed before him and redemption's anthem rang through 
the city of God. Who will deny that they were qualified 
to preach the gospel of Christ and sit upon thrones of 
judgment unto the end; until every knee bows to Jesus 
and every tongue confesses his name to the glory of God 
(Phil, ii/ 9-11). 

Jesus, the Christ, redeemed the world (John iii. 16, 



82 



SERMON IV. 



17), and as all power in heaven and in earth is given 
into him, he has the inalienable right to dictate the con- 
ditions on which we may have life, or give it to us with- 
out conditions; to send it directly from the throne of 
glory, or through the instrumentality of the gospel. 
That salvation is conditional is proven by the fact that 
all blessings are offered to us on conditions, and further, 
a man can not enjoy pardon unless he is prepared to 
receive it. If he were to send pardon down on us at 
this moment, there are some present who could not 
appreciate it because they love sin. No man can be for- 
given until he ceases to love and forsakes his sins, and no 
man c n do this save by the power of divine truth— 
the demands which it enforces ; hence the remission of 
sins is conditional. If he sends salvation directly from 
heaven, why is it that people who have never heard of 
the cross do not receive him and enjoy what he has 
promised? He came by way of the cross to redeem us, 
and we must go by way of the cross — the plan of which 
it is the center — in order to be saved. This is the truth, 
and there is no chance for deviation from it* When the 
apostles speak of " preaching the cross 99 (I. Cor. i. 16) he 
does not mean that we are to hold up to the gaze of the 
people the modern cross, nor that we are to proclaim 
only the Saviour's death for u the remission of sins 99 
(Matt. xxvi. 28), but that we are to " preach the gospel 
to every creature/' the conditions it includes, and as 
" embassadors for Christ 99 beseech men to " be recon- 
ciled to God" (II. Cor. v. 20). Either men are saved 
on conditions or they are not ; there are not, there can 
not, be two ways to heaven if the Bible is true. If 
regeneration is the result of the power of God exerted 
directly upon the heart, the gospel is the most stupend- 



THE REU-ENERA TION. 



83 



ous failure in the history of the world. Why were 
there no persons regenerated between the ascension of 
Jesus and the day of Pentecost? Do you say it was 
because the gospel was not preached? Do you think 
preaching the gospel is necessary if men are saved in 
answer to prayer ? 

What of the mission of the apostles ? What was their 
work? Jesus promised that they should sit upon thrones; 
not only upon thrones, but upon thrones of judgment. As 
a matter of fact, we know that they did not sit on thrones 
and reign as kings ; it is therefore certain that he meant 
something else. A man who sits upon a throne is a man of 
authority ; his word is law ; his will is not, can not, be dis- 
regarded. The apostles occupied thrones — positions of 
great authority — in the kingdom of God. The promise 
and authority of Jesus lifted the apostles to places of pre- 
eminent, of unchangeable, of universal authority in the 
history of the world and the restoration of men to " the 
peace of God " (Eph. iii. 15). They — not their sucessors 
in office, for- they had none — were to occupy thrones of 
judgment; not simply for Israel, but for all the world > 
not only for the land of Judea, but for all lands ; not 
alone for that age, but for all ages. Jesus Christ came to 
represent the Father, and he therefore spoke the Father's 
words (John v. 19). As the Father sent the Son, so he 
sent the apostles (John xvii. 18). Were the words of 
Jesus final? W r ere they an expression of the will of 
God? The preaching of the apostles was none the less 
an expressson of the will of Christ. Is there any appeal 
from the words of Jesus ? None. Neither is there any 
appeal from the preaching of the apostles. 

If Jesus sends the Holy Spirit down on people now 
in order to convert them, why did he not send the Spirit 



84 



SERMON IV. 



out from Nazareth, his homeland convince the Jews that 
he had come into the world ? Because it was his desire 
to preach to them, to identify himself with their interests, 
to share their sorrows and to give them facts as a basis 
for action and experience. There is power in the human 
heart. How wonderfully a man's voice indicates the 
burden that presses within ! Think of a voice sanctified 
by love untold, fresh from the heart that carried the 
eternal interests of the world, and you have some idea 
of the depth and tenderness of the messages of Jesus* 
Is it any wonder that they moved men to action? Why 
was the Holy Spirit not sent directly to the minds of the 
wicked Jews in the city of Jerusalem on the day of 
Pentecost, instead of sending him to the apostles, and 
promising him to them if they would obey what the 
apostles preached? I demand of the advocates of an 
independent spiritual influence, or power, in conversion, 
an answer to this question. I can answer it. Jesus 
Christ had committed the word or ministry of reconcili- 
ation, the future conquests of his kingdom, .the regener- 
ation of the world, into the hands of men, and the 
Jews were not prepared to receive and enjoy the 
Spirit of truth, nor is any other man before he has sub- 
mitted to the requirements of the gospel (Actsii. 38 ; Acts 
v. 32). Why was the Holy Spirit sent to the apostles? 
To re-convert them, to lift them into the enjoyment of 
the " higher life " ? Neither; but to enable them to be 
infallible witnesses of what they had seen and heard 
(John xv. 26) ; that they might proclaim the will of God 
in its fullness j that the gospel as they preached it, and 
that the law of pardon which they submitted, might be 
an unchangeable guide to all succeeding generations (II. 
Tim. iii. 15-17; II. Pet. i. 16-21). 



THE REGENERA TION. 



85 



The Holy Spirit was promised to the apostles with 
the assurance that he should remain forever (John xiv. 
14-17). Do you believe this? Careful, now! Do you 
really and truly believe it? If so, why do you pray to 
God to send the Holy Spirit down from heaven with 
converting and sin-destroying power? Has he failed to 
keep his word ; to redeem his promise ? If not, the 
Holy Spirit is still in the world, and you insult Jesus 
Christ to his face by uttering such a prayer. Can you 
do it and be guiltless in the great day? Will you run 
the risk? The Holy Spirit is here, but how? Not 
with miraculous power, as on the day of Pentecost and 
through the apostolic ministry, but in and through the 
truth of God (John vi. 63). Are the messages of the 
New Testament, the sermons delivered by the apostles, 
the letters written to the church, any less inspired, any 
less the will of God, any less the truth, any less the 
words of the Holy Spirit, than when God spoke through 
men (Matt. x. 20) at the beginning (Isaiah ii. 2, 3), and 
all through the apostolic times ? The Comforter is " the 
Spirit of truth." Not 'simply truth, but the spirit, the 
life of the truth ! Does truth, the spirit of truth, ever 
die? If God spoke through men at the beginning, can 
he not, does he not, speak through the New Testament 
now? If the preaching of the apostles was true once, 
is it not true now? If they sat upon thrones once do 
they not sit upon thrones now ? If the gospel met the 
wants of men in the past, saved them from sin, will it 
not do it now? Does it lose any of its power on 
account of its age? If so all truth, gospel truth, is 
powerless, for no one has discovered anything new since 
the last apostle died. Why did the Lord not baprize the 
evangelists of the apostolic and subsequent ages with 



86 



SERMON IV. 



the Holy Spirit ? Because the apostles were inspired to 
preach, teach and record the will of God, and no inspi- 
ration but the inspiration of truth and honesty is neces- 
sary to promulgate that which is a matter of record, 
especially as no man has a right to change it, to add to 
it, subtract from it, or substitute anything else for it (Gal. 
i. 8, 9; Rev. xxii. 18, 19). 

If God should move men now as he moved the 
prophets and the apostles; if he were to inspire them, 
could they improve the Bible, the New Testament? 
Why are there no inspired men now? They are not 
needed, for the New Testament contains all things neces- 
sary to the redemption, enlightenment and restoration of 
the world to God. Could an inspired man living now 
add anything to or take anything from that which has 
descended to us from the apostles of Christ? Could he 
reveal a more loving and compassionate Father, or a 
more loving and sympathetic Saviour, than we find in 
the New Testament (Heb. ii. 16-18) ? Could he preach 
a better gospel than the gospel of Christ (I. Cor. xy. 
1-6) ? Could he offer a stronger motive to lead men to 
repentance than the love of God (Rom. ii. 4), or the 
coming judgment (Acts xvii. 31)? Could he exalt the 
name of Jesus more than the apostles exalt it (Acts iv. 
11, 12; Eph. i. 21-23; Phil. ii. 9-11) ? Could he make 
the way plainer than it is now (Isaiah xxxv. 8) ? Could 
he settle the baptismal question by using plainer lan- 
guage than "one baptism " (Eph. iv. 5), and "buried 
with him by baptism into death " (Rom. vi. 4) ? Could 
he make the baptism of Jesus plainer than by saying he 
was baptized in the river Jordan, and that he came up, 
straightway up, out of the water, after he was baptized 
(Mark i. 9, 10) ? Could he make the baptism of the 



THE REGENERATION. 



87 



■eunuch any plainer than by saying they came unto a cer- 
tain water, went clown into the water, where the bap- 
tizing was done, and after which they came up out of 
the water and rejoiced in the promises of Christ (Acts 
viii. 26-40) ? Could he use a more forcible argument in 
favor of the unity of the church than the prayer of Jesus 
Christ (John xvii. 20), and the unanimous testimony of 
the apostles (I. Cor. i. 10; Eph. iv. 1-7)? Could he 
make a preacher's responsibility greater than Paul 
makes it (Gal. i. 8, 9) ? Could he increase the strength 
of our obligations to preach and support the gospel (II. 
Cor. viii. 1-24) ? Could he increase the necessity for 
holy living (Phil. ii. 14, 15) ? Could he give us a stronger 
description of the end of the world than that which fell 
from the lips of Jesus (Matt. xxv. 31-46) ? Could he 
more than " thoroughly furnish us unto all good works 
(II. Tim. iii. 17)? 

Again I ask, why does thef Father not send the Holy 
Spirit directly to the hearts of sinners in order to their 
conversion ? Because this would break the promise of 
Jesus and dethrone the apostles, nullify the facts of the 
gospel, destroy the power of the cross, disregard the 
conditions on which salvation is promised, and leave 
" the hope of the gospel" (Col. i. 23) without founda- 
tion. Let me emphasize the fact that our hope — the 
Christian hope — is the hope of the gospel; the hope 
growing out of the confidence we have in the fulfillment 
of the promises of Jesus to those who by faith accept 
his sacrifice and obey his word ; not the hope that God 
has or will regenerate us when it pleases him ! No 
system of religion is true that in any way disregards the 
authority of the apostles, modifies their teaching, or 
gives the glory of our salvation to any power that does 



88 



SERMON IV. 



not embrace the facts — the death, burial and resurrection 
of Christ; and the conditions — faith in Christ as a 
personal Saviour, repentance or turning from sin, confess- 
ing the name of Jesus Christ, and baptism for the remis- 
sion of sins — of the gospel. 

What is an apostle? What does the word signify? 
One who is sent. Sent where? Anywhere. Who 
were the apostles? Men who were called, qualified and 
sent into the world by Jesus Christ. Why did he call 
them ? In order that they might follow him. Why did 
he qualify them ? That they might be reliable witnesses 
of his life, his doctrine, his resurrection. Why bear 
witness of his resurrection ? Because it is the founda- 
tion of the Christian system (I. Cor. xv. 12-20). Why 
did he send them ? That they might preach the gospel 
to every creature (Mark xvi. 15, 16). Deliverance 
from sin is for men. Men are therefore the best 
agents to publish the conditions and blessings of forgive- 
gess. Did these men enjoy special authority ? Read 
your Bible and your ignorance will be destroyed, and it 
will never prompt you to ask such a question again. 
Jesus promised Peter " the keys of the kingdom, " with 
the emphatic declaration : " Whatsoever thou shalt bind 
on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever thou 
shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven " (Matt, 
xvi. 19). Whatsoever is a very comprehensive word. 
It dees not imply that some of the things that should be 
bound on earth should be ratified in heaven, and others 
left to the approval or rejection of men. Do you dis- 
criminate between the demauds of the gospel, and receive 
one part and reject another? If you do, you insult the 
authority and dignity of the apostles, and therefore of 
Jesus Christ himself. What does this promise to Peter 



THE REG EN ERA TION. 



89 



mead, that God will save you while you live in defiance 
of the teachings of the " Acts of the Apostles " ? Jesus 
explained this promise after the resurrection, and his 
explanation included, all of the apostles. Will you 
receive his own words ? " Whose soever sins ye remit, 
they are remitted unto them ; and whose soever sins ye 
retain, they are retained " (John xx. 23). W 7 hat do you 
think of this? Have you been saved, according to the 
terms dictated by the apostles? They stood before the 
world in the name of Jesus Christ, and preached with 
the assurance that their words would be ratified in the 
courts of heaven for all time. Do you longer doubt, or 
deny the apostles the peace in the regeneration of the 
world that Jesus gave them ? Do you expect to get to 
heaven when you disregard their demands? If so, on 
what do you base this expectation ? On something the 
Lord will do for you? What can he do for you while 
you treat the embassadors of his Son with contempt ? 
Nothing!, nothing but banish you into the blackness of 
darkness forever. If the apostles were commissioned !>y 
him who wields the scepter of universal authority, if 
they were to sit upon thrones from the beginning of 
" the regeneration " unto the " end of the world " (Matt, 
xxviii. 20), if they had the power to open the kingdom 
of God to all nations, if they had power to* bind and 
loose in the name of Jesus Christ, if they were com- 
manded to " teach all nations," if they had the power to 
remit and retain sins on the conditions dictated by the 
Spirit of God, are they not worthy to be heard, and 
f should not their preaching be the end of all doubt and 
confusion among men who desire to be saved ? 

The work of the apostles was a special work. Hence 
the special call and special qualification. They knew 



90 



SERMON IV. 



Jesus as a personal friend and brother, and they received 
the baptism of the Holy Spirit before they began to 
preach. ThisHnsured infallible guidance in the work 
they were commanded to inaugurate in the city of Jeru- 
salem and push to " the uttermost parts of the earth" 
(Acts i. 4-8). Why all this mighty preparation, if regen- 
eration is a work outside of the New Testament? Why 
all this sacrifice, this anguish of spirit, this labor and 
anxiety, if the gospel is insufficient to save us, if we 
must appeal from the apostles to the throne of heaven ? 
Jesus promised the apostles that he would remain w r ith 
them until the end of the world ; not their end, but the 
end of the world. Was the promise good? Did he 
keep it ? The apostles are dead and their graves are lost 
and forgotten, but the end of the world is yet in the 
future. Either the promise of Jesus has failed, or he 
recognizes the works of the apostles as he did before 
they died. Either the Holy Spirit is in the sermons of 
the apostles, carrying conviction to the world, or the 
New Testament is a book without any power or mean- 
ing. He commanded them to preach the gospel to every 
nation, to every creature ? Did they obey this command? 
They preached the gospel to the world as far as they 
knew the world, but there are millions of the race who 
have never heard of Jesus. Either the apostles did not 
fulfill their mission — do their whole duty — or they are 
preaching yet, and will continue to preach Jesus Christ, 
and him crucified (I. Cor. i. 23), until sin is banished 
from earth; until "The kingdoms of this world become 
the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ" (Rev. xi. 
15). Why did Jesus call the apostles? Why did he 
instruct them? Why did he promise to be with them 
unto the end? That they might live a few years and 



THE REGENERATION. 



91 



pass, with their works, into oblivion? His own words 
ought to answer. They do answer: " Ye have not 
chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, 
that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your 
fruit should remain ; that whatsoever ye shall ask of the 
Father in my name he may give it you " (John xv. 16). 
Did they go and preach, and does their fruit remain? 
There are more people who accept their authority to-day 
than ever before. Thank God for a gospel that does not 
grow old ! 

There are many preachers now who claim to be called 
and sent by the Lord. Does the New Testament estab- 
lish these claims? Were Timothy, Titus, Triphena, 
Triphosa, Urbane, Luc i en, Jason, and many others who 
labored with the apostles in the gospel, sent by a direct, 
special and overwhelming call from God? If so, the 
New Testament says nothing about it. Do you say 
they could learn directly from the apostles, and therefore 
needed no special call ? Can you not learn as much 
from the apostles as they did? If we can not, it is cer- 
tain that the apostles' record is incomplete, and we have 
only a part of the gorpel. The pretentions of the 
"called and sent" preachers of modern times are the 
very essence of fanaticism. If God calls and sends them, 
why do they not agree among themselves? Would he 
proclaim through the Apostle Paul , that there is one 
baptism and then contradict it by calling one man to go 
and preach that sprinkling is baptism,-another to preach 
that pouring is baptism, and then to rule the water out 
and put all the stress on the baptism of the Holy Spirit, 
and another to declare that baptism is non-essential, or 
that it is the invention of man ? Would he inspire the 
apostles to preach the gospel to every creature, and build 



92 



SERMON IV. 



up the one body of Christ (I. Cor. i. 10), and call men in 

our day to contradict their teach in g, and preach only a 
part of the gospel, and thank God for the existence of 
division ? Would he declare that the gospel is his power 
to save the people, and then call a man to go and exhort 
the people to pray for regeneration to come down from 
heaven? Would he condemn confusion in the early 
church (I. Cor. xiv. 33), and call and send men to go and 
conduct such meetings as you have all witnessed ? If 
there is a special call, there is, there must be, a special 
qualification. Would God call a man to preach the gos- 
pel who could not do it, and would not if he could? He 
certainly would not. This to my mind is a sufficient rea- 
son to reject the presensions of such men, for a majority 
of those who say they are called are wofully ignorant of 
the Bible. Do you say the ignorant, unqualified, incom- 
petent ones are not called ? How do you know they are 
not called ? Are you the judge ? A man's consciousness, 
and not the opinion of some one else, is the test, according 
to your theory. But if God calls men he gives them a 
direct qualification, and an ignorant man — a man who is 
not acquainted with the Scriptures — is just as good mate- 
rial as can be found. Are you called ? Let us see if you 
are. If a man has a call from God, as the apostles did, 
he will preach the truth. This is a settled question. 
From it there can be no appeal. If you are called of 
God to preach death-bed repentance, grave-yard scenes, 
and call men to the mourner's bench to " get religion " 
or " to get saved/' why can you not confirm your mis- 
sion? If you are called of God to engage in these 
practices you are in advance of the apostles, for they do 
not say anything about them ; and your call is an indis- 
putable evidence that the people did not have the full 



THE II EG ENER, 1 TION. 



93 



gospel, and that the apostles either could not or would 
not preach the whole truth ! If you are called of God 
to preach only a part of the gospel, and your call is an 
evidence that you are right, does not the Lord repudiate 
the New Testament ? If you are called of God to pub- 
lish the wisdom of men — to build up a system on their 
teaching that is not indorsed by the Bible — did the apos- 
tle speak falsely when he, by the authority of Jesus 
Christ, commanded the brethren to " be perfectly joined 
together in the same mind and in the same judgment " ? 
If you are called of" God to substitute sprinkling for 
burial in baptism, why do you get offended when we ask 
for a " thus saith the Lord " for your practice ? If you 
are called of God to do a special work, why does your 
work contradict the work of the apostles ? If you are 
called of God to preach, why do you not " preach the 
word/' and honor the name of Jesus Christ ? When a 
man preaches " any other gospel," we can be infallibly 
sure that he has neither been called of God nor the truth. 
Well did the apostle say : " Try the spirits whether they 
are of God" (I. John iv. 1)! 

We will put this theory to the test. Here is a man 
who says he enjoys a direct call from God. So did the 
apostles. He says he has been baptized with the Holy 
Spirit. So were the apostles of Christ. He says he has 
been baptized with the Holy Spirit repeatedly, and he 
prays for a .new baptism on every important occasion. If 
there is anything in fullness and repetition, who enjoys 
the greater position of authority ? Whose testimony is 
preferable ? The weight of authority and divine recog- 
nition seems to be against the apostles ; but behold there 
is a difference in what they preach. The apostles preached 
under a commission which said : " He that believeth and 



94 



SERMON IV. 



is baptized shall be saved ; but he that believeth not shall 
be damned" (Mark xvi. 16). His commission says: 
" He that believeth shall be saved ; but he that believeth 
not shall be damned." They said to believing penitents : 
" Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name 
of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall 
receive the gift of the Holy Spirit " (Acts ii. 38). He 
says to them : " Regeneration is the work of God, and 
you can not do anything until the Lord comes in his 
mighty power." Which will you believe — the apostles ? 
Then his pretended call is the work of imagination, and 
his professed baptism of the Holy Spirit a most dis- 
astrous delusion. Either there is a general call or no 
call. A man's natural talent, his attainments, his faith in 
God through the truth, his interest in the salvation of 
men and the opportunity which Providence gives him, 
demand of him his uttermost endeavor. Every Chris- 
tian who is mentally, physically and spiritually qualified 
is called and sent to work for Jesus. The New Testa- 
ment calls you ; calls you now. It recognizes the fact 
that every man can do something, and must do it or per- 
ish ; but the call to preach is no louder, no more divine, 
than the call to pray, to sing, to give, to suffer, or to work. 

How are men regenerated under the gospel of Christ? 
this is the question that concerns us. Before he left the 
earth he appeared to his apostles in a mountain of Galilee, 
and said unto them : " All power is given unto me in 
heaven and in earth. Go ye, therefore, and teach all 
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of 
the Son, and of the Holy Spirit ; teaching them to observe 
all things whatsoever I have commanded you ; and lo, I 
am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. 
Amen" (Mark xvi. 15, 16). " Thus it is written, and 



THE REGENERA TION. 



95 



thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the 
dead the third day ; and that repentance and remission of 
sins should be preached in his name among all nations, 
beginning at Jerusalem, and ye are witnesses of these 
things" (Luke xxiv. 46-48). " Peace be unto you; as 
my Father has sent me, even so send I you, receive ye 
the Holy Spirit ; whose soever sins ye remit, they are 
remitted unto them ; and whose soever sins ye retain, they 
are retained" (John xx. 20-23). This is the last and 
great commission. We can not, we dare not, go behind 
it. We can not, we dare not, transcend its bounds. This 
commission includes every question concerning the regen- 
eration of the world. Note these facts : (1) Go. (2) Preach 
or teach the gospel to the people. (3) Belief based upon 
what is preached. (4) Repentance as the result of ac- 
cepting Jesus as the remedy for sin. (5) Baptism, " the 
bath of regeneration," for the remission of sins. (6) 
Teaching the disciples to abide in the doctrine of Jesus. 
(7) The presence of Jesus unto the end. The apostles 
carried this commission out to the very letter. (1) They 
were in Jerusalem, the proper place to begin. (2) They 
received the Holy Spirit to guide them into all truth. (3) 
They preached the gospel. (4) The people heard and 
believed it. (5) They accepted the apostles as the repre- 
sentatives of Jesus Christ. (6) They repented, or changed 
their minds, in reference to the Messiah, and turned from 
their sins. (7) They were baptized into Christ. (8) 
They received the gift of the Holy Spirit. (9) They 
were added to the church. Every example of conversion 
recorded in the Acts of the Apostles harmonizes with this, 
if all the attendant circumstances are considered. The 
apostles would have been recreant to every principle of 
truth embraced in this commission if they had preached 



96 



SERMON IV 



one gospel in Jerusalem, another in Samaria, another 
among the Gentiles. God's method of regeneration is 
fully unfolded in the New Testament, and he has no 
other method. When a man comes to you as a preacher 
of the gospel you have a right to ask : Does he preach it 
in its fullness ? Does he practice what he preaches ? If 
not, he has not learned from the apostles, and he does not 
speak by the authority of Jesus Christ. No man who 
respects the New Testament as the "book of life" will 
search a part and neglect a part of it. A man who 
honors the Lord will not add anything to or take any- 
thing from the word. Will you receive the truth as 
Jesus Christ and the apostles left it ? The strait and nar- 
row way (Matt. vii. 14, 15) extends from you to heaven. 
It is the Lord's way, and there is no other way. It 
begins at the cross, and runs through the great commis- 
sion, through the preaching of the apostles, and through 
obedience to the truth. Will you sell your soul for the 
world — for the ways of men? I ask you, God asks you, 
the Saviour asks you to decide this question now ! Will 
you at this moment decide for heaven ? I pause for a 
reply. God be merciful ! Some souls must decide for 
heaven or hell ! 

The Saviour will come again. He will sit in the 
throne of his glory and power. We will gather around 
the judgment seat. " Every eye shall see him" (Rev. i. 
7). You will be there! We will all be there! Ah! 
solemn, awful, terrible thought. Where will you stand 
in that day ? What do you expect of the mighty Judge ? 
What promise have you ? Will he deny the apostles 
who lived and died for his cause, and put them to shame 
in the presence of men and angels, and say " Well done ! " 
to you when you are too proud, too stubborn, too much 



THE REGENERATION. 



97 



in love with your own way to do your duty now ? He 
is ready and willing to save you now. He stands at the 
door and knocks. Will you let him in ? He holds out 
his pierced hands. Listen, ye dying men and women ! 
" I suffered this for you// Will you come to Jesus ? 
Will you come in the way he demands? Will you sub- 
mit to the requirements of the gospel ? " Behold, now 
is the accepted time ! Behold, now is the day of salva- 
tion" (II. Cor. vi. 2)! 



98 



SERMON V, 



SERMON V. 

THE WORD OF RECONCILIATION. 

Text : " Behold, where I gave all diligence to write unto 
you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write 
unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for 
the faith which was once delivered unto the saint." (Jude 3.) 

These stirring thoughts were addressed to the disci- 
ples of Christ, the Christians, or children of God, who 
lived during the time of the apostles, and through them 
to us. Who wrote them? Jude. Who was Jude? The 
servant of Jesus Christ. This entitles him to our respect 
and confidence. W T hat was his work? He was an apos- 
tle/more than a servant, of Jesus Christ. What is an 
apostle? A person who was sent unto the world to 
preach the Gospel. Was Jude a competent witness in 
things pertaining to the kingdom of God ? If not, his 
testimony can not be accepted. If so, his testimony can 
not be rejected. What are the elements of compe- 
tency required of a witness? and did this man possess 
them? A witness must be honest. This man was hon- 
est, for if he had not been, Jesus Christ would not have 
selected him, and charged him with the responsible position 
which he filled. A witness must be present, and have an 
opportunity to see and understand that of which he is to 
testify. Jude was present and could testify positively 
and emphatically to what he saw ; the man Christ Jesus ; 
in his preaching, in his miracles, in his sufferings, after 
the resurrection. His testimony can not therefore be 



THE WORD OF RECONCILIA TION. 



99 



ruled out. It must stand. In addition to his oppor- 
tunities during the Lord's life on earth, he had from 
Pentecost forward " another comforter/' helper, or 
teacher; he spoke under the immediate guidance, super- 
vision and inspiration of the Holy Spirit. His words 
outweigh all the philosophical, scientific and theological 
speculations of the world. Why? Because he saw the 
Lord Jesus and therefore spoke the truth concerning 
him. The testimony of men who saw him can not be 
compared with those who lived with him, heard him 
and knew him. 

Jude does not approach us simply as a man of infor- 
mation and reputation, but as a man laboring under the 
sanctity of a commission from God. All the apostles 
come in the same way. No one else can come to us as 
they do. He exhorted the brethren. He had a right to 
t exhort them. It was his privilege to exhort, beseech, 
and entreat; but he had the right also to demand atten- 
tion. When a man speaks as the embassador of Christ ; 
when his words bear the weight of an eternal existence, 
and the emphasis of "all authority in heaven and in 
earth," we can not refuse to hear him or reject his de- 
mands. Every man who has written or spoken by divine 
authority occupies this position. The Bible is, therefore, 
the voice of God to man, the only voice we can hear in 
reference to this life or the next. Though God sits upon 
the throne of glory and power, his voice sounds through 
the requirements and promises of his word. Every book, 
every chapter, every verse, every thought is a message 
from him, a message that emphatically demands our 
thoughts, our attention, our respect and our confidence. 

This apostle wrote with a specific end in view. This 
is one of the chief characteristics, one of the distin- 



100 



SERMON V. 



guishing features of everything in the Bible. All the 
men, incidents, nations that enter into its construction 
direct our thoughts to its author. He knew the condi- 
tion of man and the wants of his nature, hence his mes- 
sages to men are short, compact and to the point. Jude, 
as " the 7 servant of Jesus Christ," wrote to the brethren, 
to exhort them to " earnestly contend for the faith which 
was once delivered unto the saints." This faith must 
have been a matter of considerable importance, for he not 
only exhorted them to contend for it, but to u earnestly 
contend " for it. It evidently embraced something of mo- 
mentous import, or this servant of God would not have 
shown so much interest in its perpetuity. A careful ex- 
amination of the text identifies or connects " the faith 
which was once delivered to the saints " with " the com- 
mon salvation." Look ! light is breaking ; this faith em- 
braces the elements of our salvation. He did not exhort, 
them to contend for a faith, or a part of the faith, or the 
faith that would be delivered according to the demands 
of the world through subsequent ages, as if " the faith " 
were to change with the times and manners of the people, 
as if there was not anything permanent and enduring 
connected with it, but for the faith that had been de- 
livered already. The saints had received it and were in 
possession of it at that time. 

What is the faith which was once delivered unto the 
saints? It is the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. It 
means more than our personal trust in Christ. There is 
no need to contend for that which is a matter of knowl- 
edge, for we know whether we trust him or not, but we 
can contend for the foundation of our trust and the acts 
which grow out of it. In other words, we have a right to 
defend Christ and his cause. What does it contain ? 



THE WORD OF RECONCILIATIOJS. 



101 



Everything in the gospel plan of salvation. When was 
it delivered to the saints? In apostolic times. By whom 
was it delivered to the saints? By Jesus Christ. Why 
was it delivered to them? In order that they might pro- 
claim it to the ends of the earth. For whom was it in- 
tended ? The world. To the, faith, dead or living. It is 
of God, and therefore indestructible. Can man improve it ? 
It is of God, and therefore perfect in itself. Where can 
we find it?. In the New Testament. How can we know 
that we have it? By receiving and putting it into practice. 
Can a man be saved outside of " the faith? " If so, 
where is the proof of it. 

These are simple assertions. We will now turn to 
the proof. What is the meaning of the phrase " the faith 
which was once delivered to the saints? " Does " once 
delivered " bring out the apostle's idea? I think not. I 
present this thought for your earnest study : whatever 
Jude meant by "the faith," there is no doubt of one 
thing, it was delivered once for all ; for all ages and na- 
tions. Jesus Christ came to establish a permanent, endur- 
ing and unchangeable system. It is perfect in its arrange- 
ment, perfect in its simplicity, perfect in its adaptation to 
the wants of man. It is therefore certain that no change 
is needed. Faith means trust, confidence, or belief in 
God. " The faith" embraces everything in the gospel of 
Christ. Faith includes one act; u the faith, 99 many acts, 
some of God, and some of men. Did all the apostles 
preach the same doctrine? They drew their inspiration 
and strength from the same source ; hence, they were one 
in mind and judgment. Paul is a .uood witness. Here 
is his testimony : " And all things are of God, who hath 
reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given 
to us the ministry of reconciliation ; to-wit, God was in 



102 



SERMON V. 



Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing 
their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us 
the word of reconciliation. Now, then, are we embassa- 
dors for Christmas though God did beseech you by us; we 
pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God" (II. 
Cor. v. 18, 20.) Facts are stubborn things. These are 
worthy of your studious consideration. The world had 
wandered away from God. Men were sinners in the 
government of God. This reconciliation embraces three 
propositions : (1) God w T as in Christ. Why was he in 
Christ ? The New Testament answers : " For if, when we 
were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of 
his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by 
his life, and not only so, but we also joy in God through 
our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received 
the reconciliation or atonement" (Rom. v. 10, 11.) There 
is no doubt that God is reconciled. It is therefore un- 
necessary to pray to God as many do, to be reconciled to 
us. It is our duty, our privilege to accept what has been 
done for us, for the world, through the Son of God. (2) 
The word or ministry of reconciliation was given to the 
apostles, and through them to us. The world goes astray 
on this proposition. Are men saved outside of this word 
or ministry of reconciliation? If so, God has two places 
of salvation. One through the " obedience of faith n 
(Rom. xvi. 25, 26); the other, according to the specula- 
tions of the religious denominations, through the out- 
pouring and baptism of the Holy Spirit. What is the 
difference between " the faith which was once for all de- 
livered to the saints," and the " ministry of reconcilia- 
tion " which was delivered to the embassadors or apostles 
of Christ ? None whatever. Did this system embrace all 
things that are necessary to salvation ? There is no doubt 



THE WORD OF RECONCILIATION. 



103 



of it. Did the apostles after preaching the gospel to the 
people, exhort them to pray for the outpouring of the 
Spirit of God ? Did they ask sinners to signify their in- 
terest in the prayers of the church by standing up or 
by coming to a designated place for prayer ? Did they 
teach receivers to expect an outpouring of the Holy Spirit 
upon them? I answer emphatically, no! Do you say 
they did? Well, you are the man to find it. If it is in 
the New Testament, there is no man who is more anxious 
to find it than I am. (3) We must be reconciled to God. 
He is willing to save us ; we must be willing to submit to 
his terms of salvation. When we turn away from the 
gospel and pray to God to save, he must either deny us 
or deny his word. Which will he do? 

The most astonishing thing in the history of the world 
is the unwillingness of men to submit to and trust the 
w r ord of the Lord for what he has promised to give. 
This unwillingness is born of selfishness, pride, igno- 
rance, stubbornness, aad error. " But the righteoiL>ness 
which is of faith speaketh on this wise. Say not in thine 
heart. Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring 
Christ down from above ;) Or, Who shall descend into 
the deep? (that is, to bring Christ up again from the 
dead.) But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even 
in thy mouth, and in thy heart : that is, the word of faith 
which we preach" (Rom. x. 7, 8.) Do you see the dif- 
ference between the righteousness of faith and the right- 
eousness of human speculation? Do you see the differ- 
ence between God's way and man's way ? God's way is 
the gospel, man's way is full of uncertainties. This is a 
great question, and I propose to settle it, or rather show 
that it was settled when the faith was delivered unto the 
saints. Did God give the apostles enough to save the 



104 



SERMON V. 



world when he gave them the word of reconciliation ? 
Was the offering of Jesus sufficient to redeem all men? 
Is the plan of salvation a perfect plan ? Does it contain 
enough to meet all our demands? Everything that God 
has made is perfect for that for which he made it, from 
the insect that lives but a day, to the burning, blazing 
worlds above us. Would he exhaust his power in ma- 
terial things and after four thousand years of preparation, 
after the sufferings of his Son, give us, and exhort us to 
contend for a faith, a plan or system, that is imperfect 
and therefore insufficient to save us? The very thought 
is preposterous, an insult to God and common sense ! 
Yet this is precisely what he Iras done if the Bible must 
be set aside and salvation sent as a direct gift from 
heaven. 

No man who believes the Bible can deny that men 
have always been instruments in the hands of God for 
the development of his plan to save the "willing and 
obedient" (Isaiah i. 19.) The apostles received a com- 
mission to make disciples of all nations. These men 
preached, suffered and died for their faith ; in other words, 
for the truth. After all, preaching the gospel amounts 
to but little, if it does not purify our hearts and direct 
us in the way to heaven. How can the gospel be a liv- 
ing reality if the church has to pray, beseech and rend 
the very heavens with their prayers before God is willing 
to save? In our modern revivals the preacher expounds 
the words of truth, thrills his audiences with an exhorta- 
tion to immediate action, a stirring song is sung and the 
brethren are expected to pray for God to send converting 
power down upon the people. Special prayers are offered 
for fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, neighbors, friends; 
and the people pray long enough and earnestly enough 



THE WORD OF RECONCILIATION. 



105 



to convert the world. Can we pray converting power 
down? If so, the gospel is a failure and the Lord is not 
ready to save sinners until we ask him to do it. If God 
saves one man in answer to the prayers of others, the 
same faith and the same prayer will save all men. What 
a responsibility rests upon such a man ! If you can 
pray salvation down for one man, why not use the same 
faith and the same prayer and bring the world to Christ 
in a single day. Stop! reflect a moment. Has God 
promised pardon to those who ask it whether they be- 
lieve and obey him or not? If so, is it not a waste of 
time to contend for the faith which Jesus delivered to the 
saints? If so, why did the Lord send men to preach the 
gospel and promise to save those who accepted it, and 
threaten, yes, declare that the unbeliever shall be 
damned ? 

What has God done for us? Anything, enough to 
save us? Is the work of reconciliation accomplished, 
through Christ complete or incomplete? If it is com- 
plete, it meets all our wants. If it is not complete, our 
hopes of salvation based upon it can not endure. No one 
denies that the Lord's work wa^ well done, completed in 
every particular. Is the ministry or word of reconcilia- 
tion, the out-growth of the reconciliation wrought by the 
death of the Son ? It is. Can it therefore be any less full, 
complete and perfect than the foundation on which it 
rests? If it can, those who think so are bound to pro- 
duce the proof. If the ministry of reconciliation, or the 
gospel, is insufficient to save us, the whole scheme is a 
most awful failure. God's work is complete in every de- 
partment. It is " the gospel of our salvation/' (Eph. i. 
13.) Will you accept it? Or will you reject it? You 
must decide for yourself. Will you do it? 



106 



SERMON V. 



Hereafter when you are tempted to question the power 
and adaptability, and sufficiency of the gospel, remember 
that I warned you that no disobedience is so terrible as 
that which questions the works of God. When you say 
the gospel is a dead letter, conscience will thunder 
through your wicked heart the thought, the awful thought, 
that you deny the reconciliation of God to man through 
the life and death of Jesus. O blind and bigoted de- 
ceiver, I exhort you in the name of our loving Saviour, 
" Be ye reconciled to God." How can you, w r hy will you 
refuse to surrender to the truth? 

What part do men perform in the reconciliation of 
men to God? This is a practical question. God delivered 
the gospel to men. What are they to do with it? Preach 
it to others. What for? Let the apostles answer : " More- 
over, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I 
preached unto you, which also ye have received, and 
wherein ye stand ; by which also ye are saved, if ye keep 
in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have be- 
lieved in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that 
which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins 
according to the Scriptures ; and that he was buried, and 
that he rose again the third day according to the Scrip- 
tures; and that he was seen of Cephas, then of the 
twelve ; after that, he was seen of about five hundred 
brethren at once ; of whom the greater part remain unto 
this present, but some are fallen asleep. After that, he 
was seen of James ; then of all the -apostles. And last of 
all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due 
time " (I. Cor. xv. 1-8.) Where did Paul get this gos- 
pel? "By revelation of Jesus Christ" (Gal. i. 12.) 
What he received from him he 'delivered to man. The 
brethren had received this. It saved them. They stood 



THE WORD OF RECONCILIATION. 



107 



in it. Its principles were kept in memory. It included 
three fundamental propositions, the death, burial and 
resurrection of Jesus. These things were accomplished 
according to the Scriptures of the Old Testament, and 
verified by the [testimony of the apostles and " above five 
hundred brethren." Were they to keep it for themselves 
alone, or was it their duty to preach it to " every crea- 
ture "? Peter, in the presence of the brethren of Jerusa- 
lem said : " Men and brethren, ye know that a good 
while ago God made choice among us, that the Gentiles 
by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel and be- 
lieve v (Acts xv. 7.) This is h deeply interesting and 
instructive passage. It contains three thoughts that are 
worthy of your attention : God selected Peter to preach 
the gospel to the Gentiles. They heard the word as it 
came from his lips. They believed it. They were, ac- 
cording to Peter's own testimony, saved by words, by 
what he preached, by what they believed and did, by the 
Lord (Acts xi. 14.) Again, Paul testifies concerning 
the truth : " And that from a child thou hast known the 
holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto sal- 
vation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture 
is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doc- 
trine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in right- 
eousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly 
furnished unto all good works : I charge thee therefore 
before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge 
the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom ; 
preach the word ; be instant in season, out of season ; re- 
prove, rebuke, exhort, with all long suffering and doc- 
trine " (II. Tim. iii. 15-17 and iv. 1, 2). Are you in- 
quiring for the way of salvation? I point you to the 
holy Scriptures. Do you want faith in Christ Jesus? I 



108 



SERMON V. 



point you to the holy Scriptures. Do you ask for an in- 
spired guide ? I point you to the holy Scriptures. Do 
you ask for doctrine or teaching? I point you to the 
holy Scriptures. Do you need reproof? I point you to 
the holy Scriptures. Do you need correction? I point 
you to the holy Scriptures. Do you need instruction in 
righteousness ? I point you to the holy Scriptures. Do 
you ask for a thorough equipment for every good work? 
I point you to the holy Scriptures. Do you want to know 
what to preach ? I point you to the holy Scriptures. Can 
you, a sinner in the government of God/ ask for more 
than the Scriptures promise ? It is said that they con- 
tain eighteen thousand promises, made to the faithful and 
obedient. Yet you turn from all these and Bsk for a 
revelation, a special revelation, to enable you to trust and 
obey such a Father as the Scriptures make known ! Such 
daring impudence, such recklessness ! 

Are you satisfied? If not, what will satisfy you? 
More Scriptures? Do we need a power to save us, to 
lead us to Christ, to salvation? " For I am not ashamed 
of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto 
salvation to every one that believeth ; to the Jew first and 
also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of 
God revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, The 
just shall live by faith" (Rom. i. 16, 17). Paul does 
not use any doubtful or modifying terms, but declares 
with all possible emphasis that the righteousness of God 
is revealed through the gospel and that it is his power to 
salvation. He does not even intimate that the gospel is 
the power of God to the salvation of man, when God ac- 
companies it with his Spirit, nor that it is his power when 
the church prays for the baptism or outpouring of the 
Holy Spirit after it is preached. But that the gospel as 



THE WORD OF RECONCILIATION. 



109 



it is, embracing the grand triune truth ; the death, burial 
and resurrection of Christ, when preached in its fulness, is 
the power of God to save us. The passage in the begin- 
ning of the epistle contains the motive power, the gospel 
of Christ, and one of the immediate results, faith. For 
the sake of clearness, we w T ill correct it with a declaration 
recorded near the end of the epistle. " Now to him that 
is of power to establish you, according to my gospel, and 
the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation 
of the mystery, which w T as kept secret since the world be- 
gan, but now is made manifest, and by the Scriptures of 
the prophets, according to the commandments of the ever- 
lasting God, made know to all nations for the obedience 
of faith " (Rom. xvi. 25, 26). Why was the gospel 
preached? In order to the obedience of faith. What is 
the obedience of faith? Is it "to get religion," "to get 
saved," or to get a "baptism of power"? Neither; for a 
man does not obey what he gets, he enjoys it. Such a 
thing as getting religion is neither expressed nor implied 
in the Bible. These two passages embrace four distinct 
propositions, and no sophistry can confound them. (1) 
The gospel of Christ. (2) Making the gospel known. 
(3) Believing the gospel • or, in other words, believing in 
Jesus Christ. (4) Obedience to the gospel. " The faith" 
of which Jude, the apostle, wrote covers these four propo- 
sitions. The gospel includes the facts of the life, death 
and resurrection of Christ, and the commands which he 
gave to the apostles. To believe the gospel is to accept 
it with " all the heart " on the authority of the apostles of 
Christ. Faith comes, remains, increases, becomes strong, 
"groweth exceedingly" (II. Thess. i. 1), by hearing and 
reading and meditating upon the word of God (John 
xx. 30, 31 ; Rom. x. 17). Why are men required to obey 



no 



SERMON V. 



the gospel ? In order to freedom from sin. " Know ye 
not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, 
his servants ye are to whom ye obey ; whether of sin 
unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? But 
God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye 
have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which 
was delivered you ; being then made free from sin, 
ye became the servants of righteousness " (Rom. vi. 
16-18). 

The gospel of Christ, the faith once delivered to the 
saints, or the word of reconciliation, takes hold of a man 
where it finds him. When Jesus sent the apostles out 
to preach or teach the truth, the world lay in wickedness 
and condemnation. Was the gospel they preached 
enough to cleanse the people and make them free? No 
one doubts it. Then the same system is enough to save 
the world. When the heathen jailer was awakened out 
of sleep by the earthquake that shook the foundations of 
the prison, he inquired what to do to be saved, and he 
was told to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ ; but the 
preachers did not stop there. They " spake unto him the 
word of the Lord and to all that were in his house." He 
obeyed the gospel " the same hour of the night " (Acts 
xvi. 25-34). There is nothing said about repentance, 
but " the word of the Lord" comprehends it all and 
his life afterward shows conclusively that he did repent. 
The same question was asked by thousands on the 
day of Pentecost. They were told to " repent and be 
baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of 
sins," with the promise, " ye shall receive the gift of the 
Holy Spirit " (Acts ii. 38). Not a word was said about 
faith or belief, because those who asked the question had 
already believed and they were commanded to do the 



THE WORD OF RECONCILIATION. 



Ill 



next thing to them. Saul of Tarsus desired to know the 
way (Acts ix. 6), and the Lord sent him to Damascus to 
a preacher; for the word of reconciliation had been given 
to men, and the Author of life would not supersede the 
authority of the apostles. The disciple Ananias went 
to him and told him to arise and be baptized and wash 
away his sins (Acts xxii. 16). He did not say anything 
about the death of Christ or his resurrection or his 
glory. Why not? Because Saul knew these facts. 
Nothing was said about faith or repentance. Why not? 
Because he had both believed and repented. What did 
he lack ? Baptism and the gift of the Holy Spirit. 
Here is^ another example : " And Crispus, the chief 
ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his 
house; and many of the Corinthians hearing, believed, 
and w r ere baptized " (Acts xviii. 8). How T does this 
correspond with the great commission ? u Go ye into all 
the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He 
that believeth and is baptized shall be saved." (Matt, 
xvi. 15, 16). In what way and for w^hat purpose were 
they baptized? " Know ye not, that so many of us as 
were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his 
death ? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism 
into his death ; that like as Christ w^as raised from the 
dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should 
walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted to- 
gether in the likeness of his death, w T e shall be also in the 
likeness of his resurrection" (Rom. vi. 3-5). For by one 
Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be 
Jews or Gentiles, wdiether we be bond or free ; and have 
been all made to drink into one Spirit " (I. Cor. xii. 13). 
" For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ 
have put on Christ" (Gal. iii. 17). " The like figure 



\ 



112 SERMON V. 

whereunto even baptism doth now save us (not the put- 
ting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a 
good conscience^toward God), by the resurrection of Jesus 
Christ" (I. Pet. iii. 21). 

Do you still doubt? Are you still undecided ? Do 
you still ask for more? Are you still unwilling to rely 
upon those who spoke by the authority of Christ? The 
testimony is practically inexhaustible. Can a man be born 
again unless he is begotten anew? "Of his own will 
begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a 
kind of first-fruits of his creatures" (Jas. i. 18). 
" For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, 
ye have not many fathers ; for in Christ Jesus have I 
begotten you through the gospel" (T. Cor. iv. 15). 
" Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth 
through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, 
see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently ; 
being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incor- 
ruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth 
forever. For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of 
man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the 
flower thereof falleth away; but the word of the Lord 
endureth forever. And this is the word which by the 
apostles is preached unto you" (I. Pet. i. 22-25). Do 
you sigh for freedom from sin? " If ye continue in my 
word, then are ye my disciples indeed ; and ye shall 
know the truth, and the truth shall make you free " (John 
viii. 31, 32). "Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and 
superfluity of naughtiness and receive with meekness the 
engrafted word, which is able to save your souls ; but be 
ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving 
your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word 
and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his 



THE WORD OF RECONCILIATION. 



113 



natural face in a glass; for he beholdeth himself and 
goeth his way, and straightway forge tteth what manner 
of man he was ; but whoso looketh into the perfect law 
of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forget- 
ful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be 
blessed in his doing " (Jas. i. 21-24). Do you want 
life ? " It is the Spirit that quickeneth ; the flesh profiteth 
nothing ; the words that I speak unto, they are spirit and 
they are life " (John vi. 63). -\ For the law of the Spirit 
of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of 
sin and death" (Rom. viii. 2). Do you desire to be 
wise in the sight of Christ? " Therefore, whosoever 
heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will 
liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a 
rock" (Matt. vii. 24). Do you want to be sanctified? 
" Sanctify them through thy truth ; thy word is truth" 
(John xvii. 17). Do you desire to be cleansed? " Now 
ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto 
you" (John xv. 3). Do you want to enter into the 
kingdom? " Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, 
Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven ; but he 
that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven" 
(Matt. vii. 21). Do you desire to believe in Christ and 
be one with him and his people ? " Neither pray I for 
these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me 
through their word ; that they all may be one ; as thou, 
Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be 
one in us; that the world may believe that thou hast 
sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have 
given them; that they may be one, even as we are one; 
I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made per- 
fect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast 
sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me " 



114 



SERMON V. 



(John xvii. 20-23). "But these are written that ye 
might believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God ; and 
that believing ye might have life through his name " 
(John xx. 31). The Bereans "were more noble than 
those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word 
with all readiness of mind, and searched the Scriptures 
daily, whether those things were so ; therefore many of 
them believed" (Acts xvii. 11, 12). "So then faith 
cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God 
(Rom. x. 17). Do you want to grow in grace ? " As new 
born babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye 
may grow thereby" (I. Pet. ii. 3). "Grace and peace 
be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, 
and of Jesus our Lord " (II. Pet. i. 2). "But grow in 
grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ " 
(II. Pet. iii. 18). "And now brethren, 1 commend you 
to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to 
build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all 
them that are sanctified " (Acts xx. 32). Do you desire 
weapons for your warfare? "For the weapons of our 
warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the 
pulling down of strongholds; casting down imaginations, 
and every high thing that exalte th itself against the 
knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every 
thought to the obedience of Christ " (II. Cor. x. 4, 5). 
" The sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God " 
(Eph. vi. 17). " For the word of God is quick, and 
powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword " (Heb. iv. 
12). Do you want to be converted? "The law of the 
Lord is perfect, converting the soul ; the testimony of the 
Lord is sure, making wise the simple " (Ps. xix. 7). Do 
you want to be kept from sin ? " Thy word have I hid 
in my heart, that I should not sin against thee " (Ps. 



THE WORD OF RECONCILIATION. 



115 



cxix. 11). Do you want to be quickened into a better 
life? u Quicken thou me according to thy word 99 (Ps. 
cxix. 25). Do you want to help save the world? 
" Meditate upon these things ; give thyself wholly to 
them; that thy profiting may appear to all. Take heed 
unto thyself and unto the doctrine; continue in them; 
for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself and them 
that hear thee " (I. Tim. iii. 15, 16). Do you want light 
and understanding? " The entrance of thy words giveth 
light, it giveth understanding to the simple" (Ps. cxix. 
130). Do you ask for more than this? T am clear; the 
truth will not reach you. I leave you to your doom, for 
you would not believe if the apostles would arise from 
the dead ! God pity your lost condition ! 

Thus far nothing has been said concerning prayer, 
" calling on the name of the Lord." Please do not come 
to the conclusion that I do not believe in it, for nothing 
could be further from the truth. I do not believe that 
prayer, pure and simple, will do any one any good. The 
modern theory of conversion nullifies the conditions of the 
gospel and makes salvation dependent on the prayers of the 
sinner and the prayers of the church. I do not accept this, 
do not believe a word of it. Do you ask w T hy ? Because 
the system is an invention of man, from one end to the 
other. This seems hard. I assure you I dislike to say it, 
but when men's souls are at stake we can not afford to 
evade, or even use soft words if hard ones are necessary 
to drive the truth home to the mind and conscience. Did 
the apostles practice such a system ? They did not ; it is 
the child of the great apostasy. Why are so many men 
ignorant of the word of God? Because they think they 
can secure any blessing by asking for it, whether it is 
promised or not. Why are there so many consummate 



116 



SERMON V. 



scoundrels in the church? Because the system linger 
which they live disregards the Bible and assures its advo- 
cates tli it th i y can get anything by asking for it. Hence, 
they lie, defraud, indulge in all manners of wickedness 
during the day and pray down forgiveness at night and 
reiire to rest " spotless, clean and white This is re- 
peated from day to day through life, and if the man has 
time to pray when he is called, God is too good to damn 
him ! Could anything be farther from the teaching of 
the Bii>le? I affirm in all sincerity, and with the deep- 
est reverence of my heart, that such prayers can not be 
answered ! God can not, and will not deny his word. 

What does the Bible say about it? Saul of Tarsus 
was commanded to be baptized, u calling on the name 
of the Lord." This key unlocks the secret. We must 
do the will of God, calling on his name. Work and pray, 
pray and work. Keep right on; there is no place to stop 
tiiis side of heaven. After this man became an apostle 
he wrote: u For whosoever shall call upon the name of 
the Lord, shall be saved. How then shall they call on 
him in .whom they have not believed? and how shall they 
believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how 
shall they hear without a preacher? and how shall they 
preach except they be sent? as it is written, How beauti- 
ful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, 
and bring glad tidings of good things! but they have 
not all obeyed the gospel, for Esaias saith, Lord, who hath 
believed our report " (Rom. x. 13-16). Does the Bible 
limit the blessing of God to the obedient, to those who 
accept the " word of reconciliation "? " He that turneth 
away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall 
be abomination v (Prov. xxviii. 9). " And whatsoever 
we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his com- 



THE WORD OF RECONCILIATION. 



117 



mandments and do those things that are pleasing in his 
sight" (I. John iii. 22). " Now we know that God 
heareth not sinners; but if any man be a w r or>hiper <>f 
God and doeth his will, him he heareth " (John ix. SI). 
Do you say these words were spoken by a man? I can 
not deny it, but the apostle gives them his unqualified 
approval. If this man spoke that which is false, why 
did John not say so ? 

I do not believe in prayer alone or obedience alone. 
The Bible does not approve either. No* man was saved 
in apostolic times excepting through obedience to the gos- 
pel of Christ, hut that obedience embraced, and I say it 
most earnestly and emphatically, calling upon or invok- 
ing the name of the Lord, the presence of the Lord. 
Prayer is the vital breath of Christian living, yet we 
must mix faith and good works with our petitions to 
"the throne of grace," But you, whether saint or sin- 
ner, may live and die on your knees and miss heaven at 
last, unless you also "keep his commandments and do 
those things that are well-pleading in his sight." 

All the works of God, in creation, in providence, and 
redemption, are complete. The promise which he rmtde 
to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was complete in itself, and 
did not need any outside power, or additional power to 
make it effective. The law of Moses was inherently 
what God intended it to be. The gospel is the fulness 
of God's power, plan and willingness to save. It is, 
therefore, complete in itself. Does God impart addi- 
tional power to the sun-ray to make it warm and light? 
Of course not. The sun-ray is both heat and light ac- 
cording to hi>, design in creation. Did he send the Holy 
Spirit to the patriarchs to enable them to understand the 
promise? Did he baptize the Jews with his Spirit, in 



118 



SERMON V. 



order to enable them to understand the law of Moses? 
Such a procedure would imply that he was unable to 
make a promise or a law that would accomplish his pur- 
pose. Does he impart his Spirit to the world outside of 
the gospel? If so, where is the proof? If the gospel is 
not sufficient in itself to save men, it is incomplete; more 
than this, it is a failure and nothing but a failure ! 

It is impossible to separate God and the Spirit of God, 
either in fact or in the mind of an intelligent Christian, 
for God is a Sjtirit (John iv. 24). God was in the prom- 
ise, he was in the law, he is in " the faith which was once 
delivered to the saints/' he is in his people, he is in all of 
his works. He imparted supernatural power to the 
prophets and apostles, and as they were only agents in his 
hands, " the great power of God " was imparted to their 
words, the word of God. The New Testament is full of 
God, full of the Holy Spirit, full of Jesus Christ. Could 
you put more into it? When you accept the gospel you 
have something you can understand, something to instruct 
you, something to guide you, something on which you can 
safely depend, and planting your faith down deep in the 
truth, the revelation of the Father, and of the Son, and 
the Holy Spirit, with your eyes upon the cross, you can 
rest in the grace of God that has brought salvation and 
perfect security for this life and bright hopes for that 
which lies beyond the mystic river and the pearly gates 
in the everlasting kingdom of Jesus Christ. 



THE NEW BIRTH. 



119 



SERMON VI 

THE NEW BIRTH. 

Text : " Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born 
again " (John iii. 7). 

Every event, every fact, every lesson in the Bible, is 
directly associated with men. It is a book of divine 
power and human salvation. Its important events are 
so closely connected with men that you can not think of 
one without the other. Thus : Abraham and the promise ; 
Moses and the law; Elijah and the prophets of Baal; 
David and the Psalms; Peter, James and John and the 
transfiguration of Christ ; Nicodemus and the new birth ; 
Paul and the " thorn in the flesh " ; John and the Reve- 
lation. Bless the Lord, it is our book. 

Nicodemus was a representative of the Jewish 
religion and civilization. He was born under the law of 
Moses, was circumcised according to its demands, and 
was a "debtor to do the whole law" (Gal. v. 3). He 
was a member from birth of the old institution or 
church. He had a right that no man could destroy to 
all its privileges and many of its honors and blessings. 
He understood the principles of the covenant under 
which he lived, for he was a man of authority — "a ruler 
of the Jews." He came "unto Jesus by night" (John 
iii. 2). Why did he come by night? Doubtless for the 
same reason that will bolt the gates of the New Jerusa- 



120 



SERMON VI 



lem forever against many of this congregation — unbelief, 
respect for tradition, and the fear of men. 

Out of reverence for the customs of Israel, and 
probably the conviction that " the man Christ Jesus" 
was more than man, he said : " Master, we know that 
thou art a teacher come from God." Observe the calm 
assurance that pervades this important concession. He 
did not use any doubtful terms, such as we believe, sus- 
pect or imagine, but he ascended at once to the highest- 
plane of human experience, " we know." How did this 
Jew know that Jesus came from God? Listen, O ye 
doubters, infidels and indifferent aliens! " No man can 
do these miracles that thou doest except God be with 
him." Mark you, this is not the testimony of a disciple, 
but the acknowledgment of one who was totally igno- 
rant of the Saviour's mission. It is not to be despised, 
on that account. "These miracles" — the dead were 
raised to life again, the blind received their sight, and 
the lame walked, under his omnipotent touch (Matt. xi. 
45) — these works introduced Jesus to men as superior to 
man, as one above nature. Who of the great and good 
men of past ages had brought such intelligent, Imeh uni- 
versal, such overwhelming evidences that he came from 
God? It is true that his pretensions were lofty — almost 
above human understanding ; but he was " approved of 
God by miracles, wonders and signs " (Acts ii.22) which 
the world could not equal nor contradict. " This thing 
was not done in a corner" (Acts xxvi. 26), but in open 
daylight, in the presence of the multitudes — the most 
enlightened and critical witnesses of the age in which he 
lived. How unlike the wonders and signs, the works of 
the devil, in modern times ! 



THE NEW BIRTH. 



121 



Here are the wisdom and divinity of Jesus. If he 
had been only a man he would have been flattered by 
this reference to his wonderful works; but, no, he came 
to save the lost, and the Jewish ruler is startled by the 
emphatic and unexpected declaration : " Verily, verily" 
— which means most assuredly — " I say unto thee, 
Except a man be born again he can not see the kingdom 
of God." When he had recovered from his surprise at 
these remarkable words of him who spake as u one hav- 
ing authority " (Matt. vii. 29), he replied : " How can a 
man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second 
time into his mother's womb and be born ?" From the 
human standpoint this was a very hard question, but it 
shows an entire want of understanding of what Jesus 
s^id — f w h a t he meant. He therefore enlarged the 
phrase " born again/' u born anew" or u born from 
above," by saying: " Excppt a man be born of water 
and of the Spirit, he can not enter into the kingdom of 
God ; that which is born of flesh is flesh, and that which 
is born of the Spirit is spirit." Nicodemus was silent, 
thoughtful, astonished. Jesus said : " Marvel not that 
I said unto thee, Ye must be born again " (John 
iii. 3-7). 

A clear and comprehensive view of these passages 
wi 1 1 enable us to grasp the subject in all its details. 
First, Jesus told the Jewish ruler thut he must he u born 
again" in order to " see the kingdom of God." He 
did not understand this, hence the Lord explained to 
him that to be born again meant to " be born of water 
and ot the Spiait " ; that to see the kingdom of God 
meant to " enter into the kingdom of God." This is 
clear enough for us, for we have the light of subsequent 
revelation. This explanation might have opened his 



122 



SERMON VI. 



mind had he not, like many of our own times, been 
wedded to his own way of thinking; for he doubtless 
possessed some information concerning the preaching of 
John the Baptist, and the baptism of thousands of his 
countrymen and neighbors " in the river," yes in the 
river " of Jordan" ! But he was blind. Oh, beware of 
the pride of birth, riches or tradition ! These declara- 
tions undermined the entire Jewish system ; for their 
highest idea of spiritual position or privilege was 
embraced in a birth of flesh of Hebrew parentage. 
Everything Nicodemus said indicated that he was proud 
of his birthright, his nation, his position. When Jesus 
began to talk of a new birth and a new kingdom he was 
surprised that any Jew would have the presumption to 
place anything above the Abrahamic covenant, and its 
legitimate outgrowth, the law of Moses; and after this 
protracted interview he doubtless returned to his duties 
as a ruler full of amazement and conflicting emotions. 

Born again means born anew, born of the will 
of God, born from above, born of incorruptible 
seed, born of water and the Spirit. Has any man 
the right to detach one of these statements, remove 
it from its proper connection and build up a system 
upon it and promise men salvation through it? 
Hight«or no right, truth or no truth, salvation or no sal- 
vation, this is precisely what is done all around us, 
everywhere. We hear much of born again, born of the 
Spirit, or born anew, and but little of born of the will of 
God, born of water and the Spirit, or born of the word 
of God. Some men prefer the shadow to the substance ; 
half truth to the whole truth and nothing but the truth. 
The truth in its fullness is too much for the faith, or 
rather the creeds, of some men ; hence they neglect or 



THE NEW BIRTH. 



123 



totally disregard the objectionable parts ! There are too 
many educated consciences; consciences educated to 
systematically , wilfully neglect and reject the truth. 
Educated consciences are needed, but of a different kind. 
If the Christians of to-day would receive the truths of 
the Bible as the prophets, as Jesus Christ, as the apostles 
left them, a religious revolution would be the immediate 
and inevitable result, and out of the revolution would 
shine in its beauty the restored church of apostolic sim- 
plicity and purity. 

The " Master in Israel " (John iii. 10) did not under- 
stand " these things/ 5 nor do many of us; but through 
the mists, the doubts, the uncertainties and contradictions 
of the modern exponents of the Bible we hear the voice 
of Jesus ringing loud and clear : " Ye must be born 
again. " Can a man be born again and have no certain 
evidence of the fact? If so, we must live in doubt and 
die in doubt, and take our chances for heaven the same as 
if all religion were a myth, all faith fanaticism, all hope a 
delusion. If not, how transcendently important this 
occasion ! How glorious the gospel of light, life and 
liberty ! Where is the way? Jesus Christ, His word is- 
the way. What is the new birth ? It is the great change 
from darkness and sin to the kingdom of God. What 
does it embrace ? Every fact, commandment and blessing 
of the law of Christ. What produces it, the gospel, or 
some power outside and above it ? The gospel ; or else 
the mission of Jesus does not accomplish the design of 
God in sending him to the world. What relation does the 
church sustain to the world touching this question? We 
can preach the gospel and urge men to accept and obey 
it, and we will not be guiltless if we fail. Is the sinner 
able to do anything, or is he helpless until after he is 



124 



SERMON VI. 



born again ? He must do his part or be damned, and if 
he refuses to do it he ought to be damned. He deserves 
nothing less. Do we know that we are in the kingdom 
of G<>d ? Yes. What is the evidence on which we 
rest? The promise and the oath of the almighty God 
(Heb. vi. 13). Could you ask for more? 

This subject has been discussed over and over in 
almo'st every pulpit in the land, and yet the people " sit 
in darkness. " Thousands are willing and anxious to he 
saved, hut they candidly confess that they " know not the 
way." Who is to blame? Where does the responsibility 
lie? Who must answer for it in the judgment? Either 
the Bible, the preachers, or the people. The united 
voice of all believers exonorates the Bible from all blame, 
and lays the ax down at the feet of the people and the 
preachers. Slow, now. You must come up to the 
demands of the gospel of Christ either here or at the 
bar of God. Why not do it now? Why, vain and 
foolish man, do you u make void the law of Christ 
through your tradition" (Matt, xv. 13)? "Who hath 
bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth " (Gal. 
iii. 1)? Why will you fight against God? Owing to 
the immense amount of ignorance, indifference and 
doubt existing in the minds of many concerning the new 
birth, I will try to prepare the way for a full discussion 
of the subject by showing what it is not, by clearing it of 
ambiguous or unnecessary terms, so that the issue may be 
plain to every mind. It is frequently a much lighter 
task to show what a thing is not than to show what it is ; 
but by your indulgence and the help of the New Testa- 
ment I shall endeavor to do both. 

The new birth does not mean a second birth of flesh. 
The blood or flesh basis of divine acceptance was em- 



THE NEW BIRTH. 125 

piratically repudiated by Jesus Christ; hence the old 
covenant and the new covenant are distinct. The third 
chapter of John stands as an eiernal contradiction of the 
theory that the two covenants (Gal. iv. 24) are the same, 
one, identical. The old covenant was entered by a birth 
of flesh. The new covenant is entered by a birth of 
water and the Spirit. If the two are identical, why did 
Jesus deny membership in the second to the Jews? 
They were all members of the first. In spite of the 
feelings of Nicodemus, and the supposed connection 
between the covenants, Jesus disclaimed any connection 
between them, and opened the door of his kingdom to 
the world. 

The necessity for a new birth puts an everlasting 
quietus upon the doctrine of Universalism, the doc- 
trine that all men, religious and irreligious, will 
find happiness in heaven. If a man u can not see 
the kingdom of God " unless he is born again, and 
if the new birth involves our volition, how can a 
man be saved who has never u passed from death unto 
life" (I. John iii. 14)? How can all men be the recipi- 
ents of happiness, grand, glorious and eternal, when 
thousands u die in their sins" (John viii. 24)? How 
can a man harbor everything that is vile in his heart, die 
in this condition, and get to heaven, when no defilement 
can enter into it (Rev. xxi. 27) ? The New Testament 
answer to this satanic scheme to lead men to destruction 
is pointed, emphatic and final: " Ye must be born 
again " ! 

Unconditional election and reprobation die before 
this doctrine like men drop before the sweep of a con- 
tagion. If some were predestinated, or foreordained, to 
everlasting life, and others to u everlasting shame and 



126 



SERMON VI. 



contempt," why did Jesus not say so? Why did he not 
say: "The elect must be saved, born again "; or, " The 
elect will be born again"? Why did he not in some 
way allude to or imply the existence of these decrees? 
Do you think this was not the proper time and place ? 
You are certainly mistaken in this, for he was making 
known, though in highly figurative language, the law of 
admission into his kingdom. The reason he did not refer 
to such decrees is — and I say it with all emphasis — that 
they did not exist. Nor do they exist now save in the 
clouded minds of fatalistic theologians and the musty 
volumes of antiquated speculation. But I have not so 
" learned Christ." Have you ? If so, now is the time 
to begin anew. 

Every passage in the Bible that lays stress on human 
accountability or implies that salvation is conditional, 
buries the abominable doctrine with the obsolete men 
and times that invented it. There is but one kingdom 
of God, city of refuge, or church for all the world. No 
man, it matters not who his parents are, can claim mem- 
bership on the basis of natural fitness. It is entered by 
the new birth. All men in every age are equal before 
the law. One man can not enter in one way and some 
one else in another way. The Lord is no respecter of 
persons (Rom. ii. 11), and the gospel makes no discrimi- 
nations. All men are sinners in the sight ol God, and 
there is but one law of pardon for the world. Just so 
certain as all men have been born once — born* of the 
flesh, born into this world — they have an opportunity to 
be born again — born into the kingdom of God. 

The doctrine of the new birth does not justify the 
extravagant claims of many that they enjoy personal, 
direct and undoubted knowledge from God that their 



THE NEW BIRTH. 



127 



sins have been forgiven*. Revelation or no revelation, 
Bible or no Bible, law or no law, baptism or no baptism, 
obedience or no obedience, reason or no reason, they 
claim divine and infallible assurance of the forgiveness 
of sins. Is it right, is it scriptural, is it safe for a man to 
claim that he is the object of a special revelation ; that 
is, a revelation that no one knows anything about but 
himself? If a special revelation is required to prove 
God's willingness to save, to each person, as many think, 
the general revelation — in other words, the New Testa- 
ment — never did or never will save any one. Therefore 
the cross of Christ is a farce, the apostles were deceivers, 
and the conditions of the gospel imposed by them the 
product of human ignorance and despotism. Will God 
repudiate the word of salvation that cost the life-blood 
of Jesus Christ, and whisper peace in the souls of men 
who have never performed a single act of obedience to 
his law ? Are there not revelations enough in the Bible 
to save you ? Is your unbelief so great, your heart so 
hard, and your mind so corrupted that God mast ignore 
the requirements of the gospel and inaugurate a new 
plan to reach you ? Do you not treat God with disre- 
spect and his word with contempt when you indulge in 
such pretensions? I do not deny that men are born 
from above, for this is plainly taught in the Scriptures ; 
but before you make up your mind what this phrase 
means let me remind you that truth is- from above, that 
Jesus came from above, and that the Holy Spirit, which 
guided the apostles into all truth — yes, all truth ; not a 
part, but into the whole truth and nothing but the truth 
— came down from above to remain forever. What do 
you think of these passages ? " But the Comforter, 
which is the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in 



128 



SERMON YL 



my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all 
things to your remembrance whatsoever I have said 
unto you" (John xiv. 26). "The things which are now 
reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel 
unto you, with the Holy Spirit sent down from heaven " 
(I. Pet. i. 12). " Every good gift and every perfect gift 
is from above, and cometh down from the Father of 
lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of 
turning" (Jas. i. 17). God gives us everything we enjoy. 
Our daily bread comes from his benevolent hands. Yet 
we are commanded to pray for it (Matt. vi. 11), and to 
work with our hands (Eph. iv. 28). Because a thing is 
from above, from heaven, from God, does not necessarily 
imply that it comes directly from him, and that we have 
nothing to do. He gives us our daily bread when we 
work for it, and deliverance from sin when Ave seek it 
according to the appointments of his kingdom. If we 
refuse to work, starvation will be our just and inevitable 
portion. If we refuse to accept and live for Christ, we 
can never see his face in peace. There is no hope for 
the wilfully disobedient. Will God ignore the condi- 
tions of the gospel in order to save you simply . because 
you ask him? 

The eighth verse of the third chapter of John has 
been the source of much strife and confusion. Many 
have been kept out of the kingdom by the wild, unreason- 
able, sectarian interpretations of this passage. Let us give 
it a careful examination in the light of the New Testa- 
ment and common sense. Please give attention to the read- 
ing : " The windbloweth where it listeth and thou hearest 
the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh 
and whither it goeth ; so is every one that is born of the 
Spirit." I can not deny that the passage is a very diffi- 



THE NEW BIRTH. 



129 



cult one. For a long time I did not know what to do 
with it. That it contained an important divine truth I 
did not doubt, but what that truth was I did not know. 
The preachers and practices of the religious people 
around me increased the darkness. Their pretensions 
virtually said : u Away with faith and obedience. We get 
our religion directly from God!" Does this prove 
that the Saviour intentionally hid his meaning in impene- 
trable mystery for all time? I presume not. What 
then must or can be done? Attempt to discover its 
meaning. In what way? By appealing to the creeds 
and commentaries ? No. Revise the passage. Give the 
Saviour's precise meaning. Do you think he meant to 
teach that the greatest question with which our minds can 
grapple is as unreliable, uncertain and changeable as the 
wind ? I feel in the depths of my soul that I would be guilty 
of treason if I should make such an accusation against 
him. Jesus spoke Greek. Was he discussing the pecu- 
liarities of the wind or the great spiritual birth? W hat 
did he say in Greek? What would he have said if he 
had spoken our language? Do your translators give the 
correct meaning in our tongue of what Jesus said in 
Greek ? If they did not, we have a right to appeal from 
their translation to the original. If they give the 
Saviour's meaning the passage is a profound mystery into 
whose depths we dare not plunge. There is no doubt 
that our translators erred, and that their work needs a 
very careful and close revision. What we want, what 
we demand, what we must have, is the truth; nothing 
more or less. It matters not who suffers, let us have the 
facts ! No honest Christian can refuse such a demand as 
this, nor refuse to conscientiously abide by the results. 
The following, I think, gives a very good idea of what 



130 



SERMON VI 



Jesus said : " The Spirit breathes where he pleases, and 
you hear the sound of his voice, but you can not tell 
from whence he comes nor whither he goes ; so is every 
one that is born of the Spirit." We observe that the 
" Spirit breathes/' or speaks, where he pleases. Nicode- 
mus heard the sound of him, but he could not understand 
where it came from nor where it went. Indeed the whole 
drift of the Saviour's teaching was a mystery to him. 
Why did he not understand? Because he, in common 
with his countrymen and thousands of others through all 
the ages, was wedded to tradition, political pride and 
religious position. 

The conclusion of the passage, " So is every one that 
is born of the Spirit," seems to be the most difficult. 
Truly it covers a multitude of mistakes. It is made 
responsible for the mysterious and uncertain element in 
modern religious society, and for the positive refusal of 
many to submit to plain commands of Christ. " So is," 
not shall be, " every one that is born of the Spirit." Did 
the good Master use this expression with reference to all 
ages and all nations, or to his own age and nation? 
Undeniably to his own. Did he use the phrase, " born 
of the Spirit," in a peculiar sense? He did not mean 
any more or less than born of the will of God, born of 
the incorruptible seed, born anew, born again, or born of 
water and the Spirit. Do you say it does ? Where is 
the proof? What does your bare assertion amount to? 
Did you ever read the Bible through ? Did you ever 
read the New Testament through ? Did you ever read 
the Acts of the Apostles through ? Have you read a 
chapter within a month ? Are you not a nice witness 
concerning what a man must do to be saved ? Shame 
and disgrace on the professions arid pretensions of man ! 



THE NEW BIRTH. 



131 



We ought to study these great questions calmly, 
deliberately and honestly. Too many men imagine that 
every man, whether saint or sinner, bears the same rela- 
tion to the Bible. They remind me of the sick man who 
took all his medicine at once, totally disregarding direc- 
tions, because forsooth the physician said it was good for 
him. Let us consider the age in which this interview 
took place, and also the religious condition of the Jewish 
ruler. The times; the surrounding circumstances, re- 
ligious, political and social ; the peculiar conditions of 
men and nations, frequently give complexion to the 
divine message, for the word of God is adapted to man as 
it finds him. Every message from God to man is made 
in harmony with the developments of the age and wants 
of the people to whom it is sent. It is preeminently so 
in this passage. Jesus spoke in parables (Matt. xiii. 34, 
35), and intentionally kept many things in the dark, for 
"the hour" (John xvii. 1) had not come. The time was 
before the crucifixion, under the law of Moses, during 
the great preparatory period, just before sunrise. The 
apostles themselves Avere profoundly and unconsciously 
ignorant of his mission and their own (Mark ix. 10 ; 
Matt, xviii. 1-5). The fullness of the kingdom had not 
yet come. Many of the sayings of Jesus were mysteri- 
ous ; but those who heard him aud believed w^hat they 
understood, and obeyed as far as they had opportunity, 
were born again, or born of the Father's will. Do you 
doubt it? Here is the proof: "He came unto his own, 
and his own received him not, but as many as received 
him, to them gave he power — that is, right or privilege — 
to become the sons of God, even to them that believed 
on his name ; which were born, not of blood, nor of the 
will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God" 



132 



SERMON VI. 



(John i. 11-13). He came first to the Jews. Some of 
them received him ; believed on his name. They were 
born or renewed by the will of God. They were 
renewed to the extent of their knowledge, but no further ; 
yet, like Nicndemus, they did not and could not grasp 
the mission of Jesus in its fullness. With these thoughts 
clearly before us, is it not absurd in the extreme for us 
to ask, with the ignorant, self-righteous Jew: " How can 
these things be?" Again I ask, do this age and the 
lesson presented in harmony with its development, stand 
as a criterion for all ages ? No, no ; a thousand times, no ! 

There are many difficult passages in the prophets 
and in the sayings of Jesus, and they will remain so 
unless we permit the apostles to lead us into the light. 
If you love the abstruse, the mysterious, the incompre- 
hensible, sever the parables of Jesus from their connec- 
tion and build your hopes of heaven upon fanciful 
interpretations of that which you can not understand, 
and you will be abundantly gratified ; but if you will 
place the hard passages of Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah, 
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John under the light of Pen- 
tecost, the inauguration of the reign of Christ on earth, 
and the subsequent developments under the preach- 
ing of the apostles, they will become as bright as noon- 
day. The New Testament is the revelation of God. 
The Old Testament contained certain manifestations of 
God. Therefore the New Testament is the revelation of 
the meaning of the Old Testament. It is also true that the 
life, the teaching, the parables, the promises, the sayings 
of Jesus were never understood until after his glorifica- 
tion at the Father's right hand, and the descent of the 
Spirit of Truth. 



THE NEW BIRTH. 



133 



The gospel is a grand system of renovation, restora- 
tion, redemption, or renewal. Men heard the voice of 
God, and enjoyed its redeeming influences, for genera- 
tions before Christ was born into the world ; but their 
knowledge was limited and their conception of sin, 
salvation and immortality exceedingly crude. " So is 
every one that is born of the Spirit." The Saviour did 
not say : u So is every one that shall be born of the 
Spirit," for he well knew that the time would come 
when under the glorious light of the gospel every one 
would understand, yes, " know (Jer. xxxi. 34) the Lord," 
the Source of every blessing. Can you point to a single 
passage like this one, even in the remotest degree, after 
the day of Pentecost? Why did Jesus not use this lan- 
guage, or something like it, when telling the distressed 
and affrighted Saul of Tarsus what to do to be saved ? 
Because the time had come to reveal (i the mystery of 
God-likeness" and preach the gospel of peace to every 
creature (Mark xvi. 15, 16; Rom. xvi. 25, 26). 

Did the apostles, who knew all things by the Holy 
Spirit, fell the people: u You can not tell from whence 
it cometh, nor whither it goeth " ? Did they preach a 
sermon on the power, the mystery and the uncertainty of 
the wind, and inform them at the conclusion: "So is 
every one that is born of the Spirit ,J ? They knew that 
the Holy Spirit proceeded from the Father; came down 
from heaven (Acts ii. 33). There is no room for doubt 
now, for we have passed out of the twilight into the 
new morning; out of the parables into tacts; out of the 
preparatory period into the fullness of the kingdom of 
God. 

There is one feature of the new birth that is fre- 
quently overlooked. The phrase, " except a man/' can 



134 SERMON VI. 

not be tortured into meaning, " except a baby." Yet 
some of the " sanctified 99 of the denominations so apply 
it. It is so applied by the creeds, and you can not deny 
it. Nor can it mean simply a man's heart, mind, life or 
body. It includes " a man," a whole man, a complete 
man — body, soul, heart, mind, life. Jesus Christ demands 
all we have and are. We need light just here. The 
modern revival is the outgrowth of the sentiment that 
supposes that only a man's heart is " born anew/' hence 
the efforts to modify, explain away or ignore the birth of 
water — in plain words, baptism. Approved revivalists 
teach the sinner that feelings are the evidence of pardon. 
They ought to remember that only blind men depend 
upon feeling their way. Christians — genuine New-Tes- 
tament Christians — " live by faith " (Rom. i. 17) ; "walk 
in the light" (I. John i. 7). If we were in darkness (I. 
Thess. v. 4) we would doubtless depend upon our feelings; 
but as we are not, we are responsible, not for our feel- 
ings, but for our acts. Their methods are contrary to 
sound doctrine " (Ti. ii. 8) and common sense. Inves- 
tigate them. Do they appeal to the judgment of the 
people ; to their immortal nature ? Nay, verily ! They 
appeal to the emotional nature ; depict deathbed scenes 
and earthly farewells. They teach the people that every- 
thing depends on the descent of the Holy Spirit ; that if 
they can not get power from on high all will be in vain. 
Thrilling songs are sung. Prayers are offered that 
forcibly remind the Bible student of the dramatic scene 
depicted in the eighteenth chapter of II. Kings — Elijah 
and the prophets of Baal. The loud a amen " rings 
through the place. The confusion and excitement grow 
apace. In this condition men are hurried through the 
modern regenerating process. I ask in deepest candor, 



THE NEW BIRTH. 



is God the author of this babel? It will not improve 
the matter to take refuge behind the assertion that this is 
not the universal practice; for while the excitement is not 
so great in some localities, the theory is precisely the 
same ; for the more moderate ones endeavor to pray par- 
don down from God, in defiance of the demands of the 
gospel, and thousands, millions pass through and claim 
to enjoy pardon when they have not the least conception 
of the law of pardon submitted to the world through the 
apostles. After man passes through these scenes — scenes 
in which the animal nature often predominates — his 
religious zeal passes like a cloud away, and he begins to 
doubt. His religious teachers console him by quoting 
that ^passage about he wind, placing great emphasis on 
the part which says : " Thou canst not tell from whence 
it cometh nor whither it goeth." This is true of thou- 
sands of the mourner's-bench converts, for when they 
" get it " — such nonsense ! — they do not know where it 
comes from, and when they " lose it" they can not tell 
where it is gone. Is it any wonder that skepticism and 
religious indifference prevail in the land ? 

No one can deny that the new birth involves our 
happiness here and hereafter. Yet the space devoted to 
it in the New Testament is exceedingly small. It is 
mentioned in two different chapters by John, and once 
by the apostle of the Gentiles, Paul. That it is import- 
ant no one can doubt. Then why these brief and 
unsatisfactory allusions? Either the New Testament 
writers were culpably negligent, or other parts of the 
book throw light upon the subject besides the places 
in which it is mentioned. I think the latter is decidedly 
the correct conclusion. 



136 



SERMON VI. 



The words of Jesus, to which reference has been 
made, declare that men are born of the will of God. 
This is the golden key that unlocks the treasures of wis- 
dom, knowledge and redemption. The will of God was 
gradually unfolded to men as the centuries passed into 
the shadowy land of history. It was never completed 
until the apostles preached the gospel, " with the Holy 
Spirit sent down from heaven," in Jerusalem and among 
the Gentiles (Isaiah ii. 2, 3; Luke xxiv. 45-53). Who- 
ever received the messages of heaven as the light of 
God, as the light for the age in which he lived, was 
most assuredly renewed, restored or redeemed. Keep 
this in mind, but do not draw the unwarranted conclu- 
sion that the new birth, or salvation, of other times was 
as radical, full and complete as it is under the new dis- 
pensation. Here is an apostle's version of the matter. 
Will you accept it? "Being born again, not of cor- 
ruptible seed but of incorruptible, the word of God that 
liveth and abideth forever " (I. Pet. i. 23). Jesus Christ 
spoke in anticipation of the conquest of the world 
through the gospel after his death, burial, resurrection 
and glorification. Nothing was plain, not even to the 
apostles (Acts i. 6-8), until the Holy Spirit came down 
(Acts ii. 1-5). When Peter said, we are born of the 
incorruptible seed, he simply explained, under the 
direction of the Spirit of Truth, what Jesus said to Nico- 
demus. Born of the word and born of the water and 
the Spirit mean precisely the same. You can not sepa- 
rate them. I hope you will not try to do so. 

The word of God is the seed of the kingdom (Matt, 
xiii. 1-23). The kingdom is entered by the birth of 
water and Jthe Spirit. Therefore the seed, the word of 
truth, the obedience of faith and the new birth, are 



THE NEW BIRTH. 



137 



inseparable. Those who understand the word (Matt, 
xiii. 23), receive it (Mark iv. 20), keep it in good and 
honest hearts, are the recipients of all the blessings of 
God. Can a man be born again without the Holy 
Spirit? No, for the Spirit inspires the word (Matt. x. 
20; II. Tim. iii. 14-17). Can a man be born again, or 
become a child of God, without the seed of the king- 
dom? Can a man raise wheat or corn without seed? 
Can you fight without a sword (Eph. vi. 17)? Can a 
man be saved, be a Christian, and ignore the law of 
heaven (I. Thess. i. 6-10) ? Can a man get to heaven by 
his own way (Matt. viii. 13) ? 

What is it to be born of the word of God ? Simply 
to hear, believe and obey the gospel of Christ; for the 
cross of Christ put a motive power into everything that 
he said before he suffered. Will you answer this question 
in the presence of God? If I believe every fact, and 
obey every command in the gospel, will I be saved? 
You can not question it, can you? A man can not be 
saved unless he is born again; born of water and the 
Spirit. What then ? Faith and obedience constitute 
the new birth, according to your own admission. When 
I say faith and obedience constitute the new birth, I 
mean faith in Christ, not faith in creeds ; obedience to the 
gospel, full and willing obedience, not obedience to men. 
You cau not be half born of half of the gospel. Neither 
can you give two-thirds of the glory to men and one- 
third of the glory to God. All or none, is the will of 
God. You can not take half of the facts, half of the 
commands, turn from half of your sins, and substitute 
man's way— a few drops of water, for born of water — 
and be accepted of God. The divine demand is all ! all ! 
all ! The time is now ! now! now! 



138 



SERMON VI. 



There is no escape from these conclusions. You can 
not fall back on the fact that your parents dedicated you 
to God in your infancy. You must dedicate yourself to 
him by a complete and unconditional surrender to his 
demands. This surrender includes a birth of water, a 
burial and resurrection (Eph. iv. 5; Rom. vi.4), if God's 
will can be expressed in human language. This is a 
personal matter, and it carries with it the weight and 
solemnity of eternal years. With emphasis — solemn, 
deep and soul-stirring — Jesus says to you ! you ! " Ex- 
cept a man be born of water and the Spirit he can not 
enter into the kingdom of God." Will he deny these 
words, or repeal them, to let you into the kingdom? 
Ah ! This is an awful question. Will you decide for 
the truth ? In deepest pity and love, Jesus Christ pro- 
claims to you, to us, to the world : u Come unto me, all 
ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give 
yoifrest" (Matt. xi. 28). 



CONVERSION. 



139 



SERMON V1L 

CONVERSION. 

Text: " Except ye be converted and become as little chil- 
dren, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven " (Matt, 
xviii. 3). 

These are among the most remarkable words ever 
uttered by the Redeemer, and they were spokea under 
very peculiar circumstances. His lite and labors on 
earth were rapidly approaching their end. The cross 
and the weight of the world's redemption were growing 
nearer day by day. His disciples, who had forsaken 
their homes and their callings and followed him stead- 
fastly, obediently, perseveringly, during his ministry > 
were engaged in an earnest discussion of the kingdom of 
heaven. They had been the objects of his special care. 
It was their privilege to understand, " to know the mys- 
teries of the kingdom of heaven " (Matt. xiii. 11). He 
had spoken to them in the solitude of the mountain and 
in the noise of the city, and had carefully explained 
everything to them in the rest of the eventide, or in the 
stillness of the night. Notwithstanding these superior 
opportunities, they were yet ignorant of the real design 
of his mission in the world. They were therefore dis- 
puting concerning the positions of honor which they 
hoped to receive in the coming kingdom (Mark ix. 33- 
35). They could not agree among themselves, hence 
their appeal to the Master : " Who is the greatest in the 



140 



SERMON VII. 



kingdom of heaven?" Astonishing weakness! Inex- 
cusable ignorance! Yes, all of this and more; but if is 
not so surprising when we consider that they had entirely 
misunderstood the teaching of Jesus. He meant one 
thing; they expected another. He told them of a king- 
dom that was not to come with " outward show," but 
they did not understand him, and as they had dreamed 
of the temporal restoration of Israel, they desired to 
escort him into Jerusalem amidst the shouts of the mul- 
titude, place the glittering diadem of universal authority 
upon his brow, the scepter of peace and prosperity in 
his hands, and rend the very heavens with the shout of 
victory : " The son of David reigneth ! " 

Did Jesus reply to their question ? Yes. How did 
he do it? He called a little child unt'o him. Why did 
he calTthe child ? In order to teach the disciples a les- 
son that they would never forget. This is a striking 
picture. The disciples stand around in blank amaze- 
ment. Their countenances plainly ask: What- has this 
child to do with the kingdom of heaven or our question ? 
They look at the child and then at Jesus. In every 
lineament of his face they see manifestations of love, 
mercy and sympathy. His lips are motionless. He 
looks steadfastly into the faces of the disciples. Their 
astonishment increases until their hearts almost cease to 
beat. Their minds are fixed, and as quietly as the morn- 
ing sun chases away the gloom of night, and yet with an 
emphasis that rings through all the years, he .utters the 
true and startling proposition : " Except ye be converted, 
and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the 
kingdom of heaven"! Unexpected rebuke! Terrible 
message ! Wonderful transformation ! Inexhaustible 



CONVERSION. 



141 



words! Yet no truer words ever fell from the conse- 
crated lips of love and mercy. 

What is conversion? What produces conversion? 
How many propositions does the term conversion cover? 
Are men converted by a direct power from God, or 
through the gospel of Christ? Is the modern " mourn- 
er's bench," or " anxious-seat," process of conversion 
authorized by the word of God? If not, what will be 
" the end" of the men who practice and perpetuate it? 
Is the sinner passive or active in conversion? How can a 
man know that he has been converted ? Does conver- 
sion bring a m n into the Church of Christ, or leave him 
out in the world ? What is it to become as little chil- 
dren? What is the kingdom of heaven ? What is the 
character of its citizens? Can a man be a Christian, or a 
child of God, outside of this kingdom ? Is this kingdom 
divided against itself? Is there more than one way of 
conversion ? 

It is astonishing, but it is true nevertheless, that the 
salvation of the world depends upon the meaning of one 
word, the word converted ; for those who have been con- 
verted are in the kingdom of Christ, and those who have 
never been converted are not in the kingdom ; and those 
who are in the kingdom of Christ are saved, and those 
who are not are lost. You may consider this an unchar- 
itable view ; but I am in good company, for it is no more 
uncharitable than the plain declaration of Christ. Wha^ 
does the word mean ? I can not, I dare not, submit an 
opinion, for too much is involved, and the responsibility 
is therefore too great. I am willing to submit the whole 
question to the Bible. What did Jesus mean ? This is 
what we must determine. Does the Bible explain the 
text ? If not, it can not be done. It does not matter 



142 



SERMON VIL 



how logical your explanation may, appear, if it does not 
correspond with the word of God it is inconsistent, con- 
tradictory and dangerous in the extreme. The Bible 
explains or defines the word conversion, and therefore 
unlocks the Saviour's meaning. How many times does 
the word, in its different forms, occur in the Bible ? Do 
the passages in which it is found throw any light on the 
subject? Are you ready to hear the truth? Are you 
willing to abide by its decisions ? " The law of the Lord 
is perfect, converting [restoring] the soul : the testimony 
of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple " (Ps. xix. 
7). " Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation ; and 
uphold me with thy free Spirit; then will I teach trans- 
gressors thy ways, and sinners shall be converted unto 
thee" (Ps. li. 12, 13). " When thou art converted, 
strengthen thy brethren" (Luke xxii. 32). "But those 
things which God before had shewed by the mouth of all 
his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled ; 
repent ye, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may 
be blotted out when the times of refreshing shall come 
from the presence of the Lord " (Acts iii. 18, 19). " Hear- 
ing ye shall hear, and shall not understand ; and seeing ye 
shall see, and not perceive : for the heart of this people is 
waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their 
eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their 
eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their 
heart, and should,' be converted, and T should heal them" 
(Acts xxviii. 26, 27). " Brethren, if any of you do err 
from the truth and one convert him, let him know that 
he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way 
shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude 
of sins " (Jas. v. 19, 20). " Declaring the conversion of 
the Gentiles" (Acts xv. 3). Here are five words, con- 



CONVERSION. 



143 



vert, converted, converting, converteth, conversion. Con- 
vert is the primitive, or first word, and all the others 
grow out of it. It therefore controls the meaning of all 
the others. Converted implies an action past, completed. 
Converting implies an action in process of completion. 
Converteth implies the agency by which the work is done. 
Conversion describes the work when it is finished. The 
quotations which I have introduced bring out some im- 
portant facts : (1) Conversion is equivalent to restoration. 

(2) Teaching or preaching invariably precedes conversion. 

(3) Sinners are converted from sin. (4) They are con- 
verted to the truth, to Christ, to God. (5) Converting 
power enters into the heart through the ears, the eye, the 
mind. (6) Men can resist the converting power, and 
therefore become responsible for their own destruction. 
(7) Men are active ; that is, they can do something in 
order to their conversion. (8) Conversion includes the 
whole man ; body, soul, heart, mind, life. (9) Men are 
the agents by which God proposes to convert the world. 
(10) Conversion is that which is done in us through the 
truth. (11) Healing, forgiveness or pardon is the act of 
God. 

The word conversion is a very simple word. We 
speak of converting money into clothing, or clothing 
into money ; or converting water into steam, or the trees 
of the forests into houses. What do we mean by this? 
Simply that we change a thing from one use to another. 
Does conversion, when applied to sinners, mean any more 
than this? If the Saviour had lived in our day, what 
word would he have used to express the stinging rebuke 
to the worldly-minded disciples ? Undoubtedly the word 
turn. The thought is not simply " be turned," but " turn 
yourselves," or ?' turn again." The Saviour did not 



144 



SERMON VII 



simply tell them to "be converted," but to turn from 
their evil thoughts. This idea brings out the personal 
accountability. God does not turn us. He gives us the 
truth and commands us to turn ourselves. You can 
grasp this, I am sure, for there in nothing abstruse or 
mysterious connected with it. Indeed, you can not mis- 
understand it if you try. A man is on the broad road to 
destruction. He is a sinner in the sight of God. He is 
" dead in trespasses and in sins." The gospel calls him ; 
he stops, turns, obeys the Lord. Is he converted? Is 
he turned ? Is he changed? Is he a child of God ? Is 
he saved from his past sins? Is he a member of the 
church of Christ? Did he do anything toward his con- 
version ? If these questions, without exception, can not 
be answered in the affirmative, the apostles of Jesus 
Christ lived and died without the knowledge of the 
truth ! Do you say this is merely an opinion ? Do you 
ask for the proof? Proof of what ? That conversion is 
no more nor less than turning from sin to God? Here 
it is. The Bible is full of it. u Seek ye the Lord while 
he may be found; call ye upon him while he is near." 
How do we seek the Lord ? How do we call upon him ? 
The next verse answers very plainly: "Let the wicked 
forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; 
and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have 
meicy upon him ; and to our God, for he will abundantly 
pardon" (Isaiah lv. 6, 7). The prophet makes a very 
clear distinction between forsaking sin and pardon. The 
wicked man, under the power of divine truth, must for- 
sake his way, his thoughts, and return to the Lord. This 
is all he can do. Pardon or forgiveness is the work of 
God. He can and will " abundantly pardon." " Amend 
your ways and your doings" (Jer. vii. 3). Could any- 



CONVERSION. 



145 



thing be plainer than this? Could the Lord have made 
our duty plainer if he had exhausted all the vocabularies 
of earth? " Cast away from you all of your transgres- 
sions, whereby ye have transgressed; and make vou a 
new heart and a new spirit: for why will ye die, O house 
of Israel ? For I have no pleasure in the death of him 
that dieth, saith the Lord God: wherefore turn your- 
selves, and live ye" (Ezek. xviii. 31, 32). It is one 
thing to turn from sin, and another to " do that which is 
lawful and right." Many are willing to turn from part 
of their sins, and keep part of the statutes of the Lord. 
Such people will never " see the kingdom of God." 
Are you willing to turn from all your transgres- 
sions, and keep all the requirements of the Lord? Are 
you willing to do your part and trust the Lord for the 
forgiveness of your sins ? " Even from the days of your 
fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have 
not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto 
you, saith the Lord of hosts" (Mai. iii. 7). This is a 
fair proposition. Will you accept it? If not, why not? 
Here is an opportunity to test the promise of the Lord. 
WilJ you do it? " Draw ni^h to God and he will draw 
nigh to you " (Jas. iv. 8). Men have grown exceedingly 
wise since the apostolic times. In those days men drew 
nigh; returned to God by believing and obeying his will. 
Now they reverse the order and ask God to " come 
down " to them. Do you deny it? You can not, be- 
cause the practice is almost universal, and the custom 
prevails to such an extent that a man can not be ignorant 
of its existence even if he desires to be. 

What did Jesus mean by the phrase, " as little chil- 
dren "? Did he mean that we are to become little chil- 
dren in age and stature? Nothing could be further from 



146 SERMON VII 

his meaning. "As little children" means like little 
children. What ire the chief characteristics of the little 
child? It is innocent. It neither sins nor desires to sin. 
It is teachable, thirsty for information, ready to receive 
instruction. It is trustful; ready to believe and act. 
It is obedient; willing and ready to respect parental 
authority. Jesus therefore said in fact: "Except ye 
turn and become innocent, teachable, trustful and obedi- 
ent as a little child ye shall not enter into the kingdom 
of heaven." I can not lay too much stress on the 
necessity of forsaking every sin. Too many men make 
the start for heaven and fall by the way. Why is this? 
Their conversion was not deep enough, full enough, rad- 
ical enough. If the dregs of sin remain in the heart 
they will soon manifest themselves in the life. You can 
not reach heaven and harbor malice, guile, envy or 
hypocrisy in your heart. These things are utterly incom- 
patible with the Spirit of Christ, hence they can not 
dwell together. Are you at tins moment as innocent of 
the desire to sin as the little child? If not, you are not 
a child of God. Are you teachable ? Show me a man 
who professes to know everything about the Bible and I 
will show you a consummate hypocrite ! Are you thirst- 
ing for information concerning the kingdom of Christ? 
If you can not learn something from the humblest of 
the creatures of God, you are too proud to be a Chris- 
tian. Do you read the Bible regularly? If you do not, 
it is evident that you do not believe it. Do you search 
the Scriptures? If not you will never find anything 
that will help you. Do you study the word of God ? 
Do you meditate upon it? Is it your spiritual lood ? 
Are you trusting in Christ? Do you really believe the 
Bible? Do you believe it with all your heart? Do 



CONVERSION. 



147 



you obey it? Do you obey it all? Do you reject a 
part? Do you put your opinion in opposition to the 
word of God? Are you proud, envious, boastful, vain- 
glorious? Will you " curse God and die" ? Why not 
turn and live ? 

Conversion makes a man liks a little child, and he 
begins the Christian life humble, submissive, ready to do 
right; and he never grows out of this humble disposi- 
tion. He is required to grow in knowledge and grace, 
but the older and wiser he becomes the more he becomes 
like his Lord and Master. The New Testament clearly 
teaches that conversion makes a man a babe in Christ : 
" And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto 
spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in 
Christ. I have fed you with milk and not with meat; 
for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now 
are ye able. For ye are yet carnal : for whereas there is 
among you envying and strife and division, are ye not 
carnal, and walk as men " (I. Cor. iii. 1-4)? " Where- 
fore, laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocri- 
sies, and envies, and all evil-speakings, as new-born 
babes, desire the sincere milk of the word that ye may 
grow thereby : if so be ye have tasted that the Lord is 
gracious" (I. Pet. ii. 1-4). u For when for the time ye 
ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you 
again which be the first principles of the oracles of God ; 
and are become such as have need of milk, and not of 
strong meat. For every one that useth milk is unskill- 
ful in the word of righteousness ; for he is a babe. But 
strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even 
those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to 
discern both good and evil" (Heb. v. 12-14). U I write 
unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven 



148 



SERMON VIL 



for his name's sake" (I. John ii. 12). "And he gave 
some, apostles; and some, prophets; and som evange- 
lists ; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting 
of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edify- 
ing of the body of Christ, till we all come into the unity 
of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God* 
unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the 
fullness of Christ: that we henceforth be no more chil- 
dren, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every 
wind of doctrine, by the slight of men and cunning 
craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; but 
speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all 
things, which is the head, even Christ: from whom the 
whole body, fitly joined together and compacted by that 
which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual 
working in the measure of every part, maketh increase 
of the body unto the edifying of itself in love " (Eph. m 
11-17). " But grow in graoe, atad in the knowledge of 
our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ" (II. Pet. iii. 18). 
Why were some of the brethren in apostolic times con- 
demned for their carnality ? Because there were en vy- 
ings, strife and divisions among them. Why were they 
in this condition? Because they had not received the 
"sincere milk of the word" in order that they might 
grow out of this spiritual babyhood. Conversion makes 
a man a babe in Christ, and not a full-grown, matured or 
developed Christian, and if he refuses to receive the sin- 
cere milk of the word and grow, he very naturally drifts 
back into sin, falls from his " own steadfastness " (I I. Pet. 
iii. 17). The supposition that when men are converted 
they become full-grown members of the body of Christ 
is the very essence of delusion. Why are men required 
to grow in knowledge and grace? Because it is impos- 



CONVERSION. 



149 



sihle for an alien to learn everything before he enters 
into the remission of sins. Which requires the greater 
amount of labor, planting a crop or cultivating and 
gathering the matured grain? Which is the greater 
achievement, learning the alphabet or obtaining an edu- 
cation afterward? Which involves the greater amount 
of danger, enlistment or the subsequent, perils of the 
war? Which involves the greater amount of labor, 
bearing, believing and obeying the gospel for the remis- 
sion of sins that are past (Rom. iii. 25), or steadfast con- 
tinuance in well-doing unto the end of life? The latter, 
most decidedly. Hence the gradual growth from child- 
hood to maturity in Christian faith and living. The 
divine order is: (1) The gospel; (2) Preaching. (3) 
Hearing. (4) Turning from sin. (5) Baptism. (6) 
Admission into the kingdom of heaven or the church of 
Christ. (7) Spiritual childhood. (8) Growth or faith- 
ful application to duty at all times. 

What part of a man is changed in conversion? Un- 
questionably every part that has been alienated from 
God through sin. The conversion required by the New 
Testament turns the whole man to God. This is a very 
important part of the subject, and as the heart is the 
center of our being I will begin with it. Is the heart of 
a wicked man corrupt? Is it the throne of God? Does 
he love God? u The heart is deceitful above all things, 
and desperately wicked : who can know it " (Jer. xvii. 
9)? "An evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth 
forth evil things " (Matt. xii. 35). Paul drew this pic- 
ture of the wickedness of many nations before Christ 
came into the world, and it is just as true of millions 
to-day: " And even as they did not like to retain God 
in their knowledge, God gave them over to a mind devoid 



150 



SERMON VII. 



of judgment, to do those things which are not convenient ; 
being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wicked- 
ness, covetousness, maliciousness • full of envy, murder, 
debate, deceit, malignity ; whisperers, backbiters, haters 
of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil 
things, disobedient to parents, without understanding, 
covenant-breakers, without natural affection, implacable, 
unmerciful, who, knowing the judgment of God that 
they which commit such things are worthy of death, not 
only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do 
them " (Rom. i. 28-32). Man is alienated from God in 
mind, in thought: "For my thoughts are not your 
thoughts, neither are my ways your ways, saith the Lord. 
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my 
ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your 
thoughts" (Isaiah lv. 8, 9). "The thoughts of the 
wicked are an abomination to the Lord ; but the words 
of the pure are pleasant words " (Prov. xv. 26). Man 
is alienated from God by wicked acts. " They are all 
gone aside, they are altogether become filthy, there is 
none that doeth good, no, not one " (Ps. xiv. 3). Man is 
alienated from the family of God. (i Having the under- 
standing darkened, being alienated from the life of God 
through the ignorance that is in them, because 
of the blindness of their heart." u For all have 
sinned, and come short of the glory of God " (Rom. 
iii. 23). 

u O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, 
that thou ma vest be saved. How long shall thy vain 
thoughts lodge within thee" (Jer. iv. 14) ? " Make you 
a new heart and a new spirit" (Eze. xviii. 31). u The 
thoughts of the righteous are right" (Prov. xii. 5). 
Conversion turns the heart ; makes it new. In what 



CONVERSION. 



151 



way ? " Purify your hearts, ye double-minded " (Jas. iv. 
8). "Purifying their hearts by faith?/ (Acts xv.- 9). 
The sinner loves sin ; he must learn to love the Lord. 
He fills his heart with wickedness ; he must learn to 
" hunger and thirst after righteousness " (Matt. v. 6), 
and be filled with the Spirit of Christ (Eph. v. 18). 
Faith changes or makes new the heart. God (Eze. 
xxxvi. 26) gives us new hearts, because he gives us the 
means by which they are cleansed. We purify our own 
hearts because we accept Jesus, and he crowds out all 
impurities or sins. Repentance is a change of mind. A 
change of mind is followed by a change of thought; that 
is, the method of thinking. A change of thought is fol- 
lowed by a change of life, or, to put it in stronger language, 
a reformation of life. Baptism changes the state. We 
are baptized "into the name of the Father, and of the 
Son, and of the Holy Spirit" (Matt, xxviii. 19). We 
are baptized ''into the remission of sins" (Acts. ii. 38). 
We are baptized into the death of Christ (Rom. vi. 3). 
We are baptized into the one body, church, or kingdom 
of Christ (I. Cor. xii. 13). We put on Christ by bap- 
tism (Gal. iii. 27). If a man can be converted, or 
turned to God, according to the gospel, without baptism, 
he can be converted or turned to God without being "in 
the name " of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit; with- 
out being in Christ; without being in the church; or, 
without obedience (Acts x. 48). " The obedience of 
faith" adopts us into the family of God, and therefore 
gives us the Spirit of God. " For ye have not received 
the spirit of bondage again to f ar ; but ye have received 
the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. 
The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are 
the children of God; and if children, then heirs — heirs of 



152 



SERMON VIL 



God, and joint heirs with Christ" (Rom. viii. 15-17). 
" And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit 
of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father " (Gal. 
iv. 6). What is the Spirit of Christ, the Spirit of adop- 
tion, and how does it manifest itself? The prophet, 
when referring to the coming of Jesus into the world, 
said : " And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem 
of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots ; and 
the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of 
wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and 
might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the 
Lord" (Isaiah xi. 1, 2). The fruit of the Spirit is love, 
joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 
meekness, temperance; against such there is no law" 
(Gal. v. 22, 23). You can take hold of this. You can 
understand and retain it. Can a man whose heart is full 
of corruption, whose mind is full of wicked thoughts, 
whose life is consecrated to selfish ends, claim the gift 
and presence of the Spirit of Christ? Never! Only the 
pure can dwell together. 

What produces conversion? There are two answers 
to this question : (1) It is the result of hearing, believ- 
ing and obeying the gospel of Christ. (2) It is the 
result of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon sinners. 
Is the sinner active or passive in conversion ? There are 
alsa two answers to this question : (1) He is active. (2) 
He is not. These two propositions are as tar apart as 
heaven and earth, and one or the other of them is false. 
If men are converted to God through the gospel of 
Christ, as it is found in the New Testament, the theory 
of the direct work of the Spirit upon the sinner's heart 
is the invention of ignorant or deluded men. If the 
Holy Spirit, independent of the " power of the cross," 



CONVERSION. 



153 



turns men to God, what use have we for the gospel of 
Christ? If the sinner is passive in conversion, if he can 
not do anything to j-ave himself, who will be responsible 
for the destruction of those who are not saved ? The 
advocates of the theory of direct spiritual agency declare 
that the sinner is helpless, and that lie can not do any- 
thing in order to his salvation. Sin has " bound him 
hand and foot," and he is just as helpless as a d< ad man ! 
There he is! What will the Lord do with him? Save 
him? If so, according to his word, he will save every- 
body ! Surely the advocates of the mourner's bench, or 
anxious-seat, are the most inconsistent people on the face 
of the earth. They proclaim to the people that they can 
not do anything to save themselves, and yet they call 
them to u the altar/' where they pray and agonize for 
days, weeks, months, and even years ! Some profess to 
have " received a change/' while others live and die out 
of Christ. Where does the responsibility lie? Who is 
to blame? The preachers! Woe ! woe! woe! to the 
blind guides. 

The gospel of Christ as it is, is sufficient to save the 
world. Will you receive it and obey it? Do y<ai doubt 
it? Jesus Christ said: u My doctrine is not mine, but 
his that senrJme. If any man/' this includes you, < will 
do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be 
of God or whether I speak of myself " (John vii. 16, 1"). 
Are you lost? Jesus Christ came to save the Jost. Are 
you a sinner? Jesus Christ came to call sinners to 
repentance. He is calling you; calling you now. O! 
turn, for why will you die? O! will you not come to 
him, enter his kingdom, now? There is but one plan of 
salvation or one kingdom of Christ. Will you close 
your eyes, stop your ears, and harden your heart against 



154 SERMON VII 

the truth ? The door is open now. Soon it will be 
closed forever, and your doom will be sealed. Why, 
why, O, why will you die ? 



THE LIKENESS AND IMAGE OF GOD. 



155 



SERMON VIII. 

THE LIKENESS AND IMAGE OF GOD. 

Text: " Now when they heard this, they were pricked in 
their heart, and said unto Peter and the rest of the apostles, 
Men and brethren, what shall we do (Acts ii. 37). 

The Bible submits to our consideration five great 
propositions : (1) God created man in his own likeness 
and image. (2) Man sinned, and the likeness of God 
within him was corrupted. (3) God has devised and 
revealed apian to reinstate himself in the minds of men. 

(4) The scheme of redemption is adapted to our wants, 
sufficiently in itself to enlighten and convert the world. 

(5) God approaches man through his ears and eyes ; his 
understanding. 

There is not an intelligent, and therefore accountable, 
person on earth who has not at some time asked himself 
four great questions: Who made me? What rela- 
tion do I sustain to him? What is my condition? 
Where will I spend the hereafter? The Bible is the 
only book in the world that proposes to answer these 
questions. In fact, it is the only book that can answer 
them. I exist. I am here. I think. I act. I hope. 
This hand has painted the pictures, built the ships, the 
bridges, the railroads, the pyramids, of the world. 
These eyes photograph all nature, and mind directs the 
commerce of the world, explores the earth, and pene- 
trates the secret chambers of the Most High. Where 



156 



SERMON VIIL 



did I originate ? Why was I created? Am I in any 
respect like my Creator? Am I immortal, or will my 
existence end with death? Arc my body and mind one? 
Does my body think, oris it the servant of the thinking 
man within? You can not answer these questions. The 
Bible can. Will you hear it ? " And God said, Let us 
make man in our image, after our likeness: and let 
them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over 
the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the 
earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon 
the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the 
image of God created he him ; male and female created 
he them " (Gen. i. 26, 27). u What is man that thou art 
mindful of him ? or the Son of Man, that thou visitest 
him? For thou hast made him a little lower than the 
angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honor" 
(Ps. viii. 4, 5). Man was " made after the similitude of 
God" (Jas. iii. 9). He is a double being, composed of 
two distinct elements: u And the Lord God formed man 
of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils 
the breath of life : and man became a living soul " (Gen. 
iii. 7). " Then shall the dust return to the earth as it 
was ; and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it " 
(Eccles. xii. 7). i( For we know that if our earthly house 
of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of 
God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heav- 
ens" (II. Cor. v. 1). " For I delight in the law of God 
after the inward man 77 (Rom. vii. 22). " But the natural 
man," the body, flesh, blood, "receiveth not the things 
of the Spirit, of God, for they are foolishness," flesh and 
bones can not think, " unto him; neither can he know 
them, because they are spiritually discerned " (I. Cor. ii. 
14). " With the mind I myself serve the law of God; 



THE LIKENESS AND IMAGE OF GOD. 157 



but with the flesh the law of sin " (Rom. vii. 25). 
" Though our outward man perish, yet the inward mun 
is renewed day by day " (II. Cor. iv. 16). " For we are 
the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and 
rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the 
flesh" (Phil. iii. 3). u The hidden man of the heart, in 
that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a 
meek and quiet spirit, which is, in the sight of God, of 
great price" (I. Pet. iii. 4). " Keep thy heart with all 
diligence; for out of it are the issues of life" (Prow iv. 
23). We have here a number of expressions that prove 
conclusively that there is more of me than rny body: 
" Natural man," " outward man," " this tabernacle," 
" heart," " mind," " spirit," " inward man," "that which 
is not corruptible." The first three refer to my material 
organization ; the others to something that is immaterial, 
and therefore invisible. I! Do you grasp it? I am! 
Can you understand it? I shall be for evermore! Do 
you believe it? The body is mortal; the mind is im- 
mortal. Man is a little world in himself. " I" am the 
center; the body is the circumference. " I " am the 
king; my body is the " palace royal." " I," or mind, 
represents our individuality, or independent existence ; 
our distinct personality. Is man wholly mortal ? If 
so, what is ^.that principle that diversifies character; 
makes one man a poet, another an orator, another a 
mathematician, another a mechanic? What is that 
within us that is never satisfied, never full, never at rest? 
What is that which bursts through the gates of the phys- 
ical prison and reaches out after the everlasting, the 
unseen, the unknown? Whence this wonderful machine, 
this ceaseless activity, this insatiable thirst for immor- 
tality ? They are the products of " the likeness" of 



158 



SERMON V1IL 



God that is within us, the indestructible mind. Man was 
created both in the image and likeness of his Maker* 
Did he lose the likeness of God when he sinned ? Yes, 
in a great degree, but it is impossible to destroy it 
entirely, for it is woven into the constitution of man ; and 
there is not a tribe of people on earth, however igno- 
rant, corrupt, or degraded, that does not possess some 
idea of a supernatural and all-wise Creator. Some men 
are so corrupt that they do not respect conscience ; but 
all men fear God or dread the future. Man can not get 
away from the thought that there is a God. 

The statement that man was made in the " likeness 
and image " of God contains some very important les- 
sons. What is meant by the image and likeness of God ? 
That man is like God. Is man able to think? God 
gave him this power in the creation. Is man able to 
reason ? This ability is inherent in his nature ; the gift 
ot God. Is man capable of decision ? This is a part of 
the likeness of God imparted at the beginning. Is he 
capable of loving? Love is of God. Did man main- 
tain his unity with God ? He did not. Why not? He 
sinned, or rebelled against God, and was condemned to 
labor, suffer and die. Did his heart remain pure? Did 
he continue uncorrupted in mind ? Did he live at peace 
with God and himself? Was his mind still the image 
and likeness of his Maker? Was he free from sin,,? No, 
he began to wander away, and the farther he wandered 
from the Lord the less of his likeness he possessed. He 
crowded God out of his heart and mind by perverting 
his nature, by filling himself with lust, hatred, malice, 
hypocrisy, envy, uncleanness, idolatry, deception, wrath, 
superstition, ignorance, pride, ambition, rebellion, selfish- 
ness, and the love of this world. As the u thick dark- 



THE LIKENESS AND IMAGE OF GOD. 159 



ness" of ignorance and superstition settled down upon 
his mind the light of heaven faded away. Step by step 
he wandered away from God until the likeness of God 
was so corrupted, so destroyed, so nearly obliterated, that 
he forgot whether there was one God or many gods; 
whether his Maker was pure, truthful and good, or the 
impersonation of vice, lust and corruption ! Just in 
proportion as the nations of the earth have appreciated 
the principles of justice, truth and holiness, have they 
been free, contented and happy, and just in proportion 
as they have refused " to retain God in their knowledge," 
have they been sinful, superstitious and degraded. What 
makes a man a heathen? Nothing more nor less than 
forgetting the true and living God. Does the Bible sup- 
port these declarations ? Let it speak for itself. It will 
make it plain. It never fails. The Lord is able to 
speak the truth, for all truth emanates from him. Man 
gradually wandered away from God, and therefore cor- 
rupted himself by degrees. Lust conceived and brought 
forth sin, and sin led him on to degradation. The de- 
parture from God began within — in the heart. It man- 
ifested itself without — in the life — and led to darkness. 
u The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth 
was filled with violence ; and God looked upon the earth, 
and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted 
his way upon the earth" (Gen. vi. 11, 12). " They are 
corrupt ; they have done abominable works ; there is none 
that doeth good. The Lord looked down from heaven 
upon the children of men to see if there were any that 
did understand and seek God. They are all gone aside ; 
they are altogether become filthy ; there is none that 
doeth good; no, not one" (Ps. xiv. 1-3). u They have 
corrupted themselves ; their spot is not the spot of his 



160 



SERMON VIII. 



children ; they are a perverse and crooked generation " 
(Deut. xxxii. 5). " Because that, when they knew God, 
they glorified him not as God, neither were thank- 
ful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their 
foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be 
wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of uncor- 
ruptible God into an image made like to corruptible 
man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping 
things. Wherefore God also gave them up to unclean- 
ness, through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonor their 
own bodies between themselves: who changed the truth 
of God into a lie, and worshiped and served the creature 
more than the Creator, who is blessed forever " (Rom. i. 
21-25). " Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds 
and destitute of the truth " (I. Tim. vi. 5). " But your 
iniquities have separated between you and your God, 
and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not 
hear" (Isaiah lix. 2). This is a terrible picture. Why 
were the people, before the flood, corrupt? Because 
they forsook God and turned to evil. Why was the 
earth filled with violence? Because the people had, 
through their corrupt practices, lost their union with 
God. Why did David say there were none who did 
good? Because sin had corrupted their minds, and 
almost destroyed the likeness of God within them. Why 
did they refuse to glorify the one true and living God? 
Because they had drifted so far away from him that they 
would not honor his name, or respect his authority. 
Why did they become vain in their imaginations? Be- 
cause sin had corrupted their thoughts. Why were their 
foolish hearts darkened? Because they had wilfully 
shut out the light of heaven. Why did they worship 
the creature more than the Creator ? Because they had 



THE LIKENESS AND IMAGE OF GOD. 



161 



forsaken and forgotten the true worship, but their dispo- 
sition to worship remained; hence they deified the crea- 
ture and despised the Creator. What separated the people 
from God? Sin. Why are the practices of sinful men 
an abomination in the sight of God? Because they are 
the products of sinful hearts — u minds devoid of judg- 
ment." They refuse to u retain God in their knowledge," 
and as there is no other way to retain him, to know him, 
or be filled with him, they naturally drifted into dark- 
ness. Without God. Deplorable condition ! Without 
hope. Indescribably dreadful ! No prospect for the life 
that is to come. Horror of horrors ! 

Why did Jesus Christ come into the world ? In order 
to save the nations of the earth from sin, from heathenism, 
from corruption, and to restore us to union with God, to 
make us like God, like himself, and to drive sin, darkness 
and rebellion from the minds of men, and therefore from 
— the world. When did he come? " For when we were 
without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly " 
(Rom. vi. 6). Why were we without strength? Be- 
cause we were without God ; the image and likeness of 
God. Why were we without God ? Because we had dis- 
obeyed him. What good did his life and death accom- 
plish ? " For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became 
poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich" (II. 
Cor. viii. 9). " For the grace of God that bringeth sal- 
vation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, deny- 
ing ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, 
righteously and godly, in this present world ; looking 
for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the 
great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; who gave him- 
self for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, 



162 



SERMON VIII. 



and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of 
good works n (Titus ii. 11-14). " Who his own self bare 
our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead 
to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes 
ye were healed. For ye were as sheep going astray ; but 
are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your 
souls " (I. Pet. ii. 24, 25). These passages bring out 
some significant facts: (1) All men were without strength, 
and had in some degree lost their image and likeness of 
God. (2) In our extremity Jesus Christ came to our 
relief ; the grace or favor of God, bringing salvation to 
all men, appeared. (3) He redeemed the world. (4) 
This grace teaches us to deny ungodliness and worldly 
lusts and live righteously, soberly and godly in this pres- 
ent world. (5) The people of God are u zealous of good 
works." (6) We have an opportunity to return to a the 
Shepherd and Bishop of our souls." 

What does the " image and likeness of God " signify 
from the gospel standpoint? In creation it meant that 
man was the only creature that God made like unto 
himself. In other words, God gave to man in a limited 
degree that which he possessed in an unlimited abund- 
ance. The ability to think, to love, to sympathize, to 
forbear, to be gentle and forgiving; in short, everything 
that is good is derived from God. These faculties were 
given us at the creation. They are a part of our nature. 
What has sin done for the race ? Let us see. There 
have been great thinkers through the ages, but no man 
will affirm that our progress has not been impeded and 
our achievements hindered by the corruptions of sin, the 
conflicting elements of society, and the frailties produced 
by disease. What a wonderful change sin produced in 
the hearts of men. Under its destructive influence the 



THE LIKENESS AND IMAGE OF GOD. ,163 

image and likeness of God became a wreck, love became 
hatred, sympathy became selfishness, forbearance became 
fierceness, gentleness became spite, meekness became 
aggression, forgiveness became resentment, hope became 
a delusion, and faith became a ruin. Under the power of 
the gospel of Jesus Christ the likeness and image of God 
is recovered from the depths of darkness into which sin 
has plunged it: hatred becomes love, selfishness becomes 
sympathy, fierceness becomes forbearance, spite becomes 
gentleness, aggression becomes meekness, resentment 
becomes forgiveness, hope becomes the anchor of the 
soul, and faith becomes the mystic tie betw r een the human 
and the divine. None of our mental, nigral or spiritual fac- 
ulties have been completely destroyed, but they have been 
weakened, perverted, lost in sin. The gospel of Christ 
proposes to deliver us from sin and reunite us to God. 
The man who puts himself completely under the control 
of Christ is made, or re-made, in the likeness of God. 
Do the Scriptures sustain these statements? " Knowing 
this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body 
of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not 
serve sin " (Rom. vi. 6). " If so be that ye have heard him, 
and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus ; that 
ye put off concerning the former conversation, the old man 
which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts ; and be re- 
newed in the spirit of your mind; and that ye put on the 
new man, which, after God, is created in righteousness and 
true holiness. Wherefore, putting away lying, speak every 
man truth with his neighbor; for we are members one of 
another" (Eph iv. 21-25). "Lie. not one to another, 
seeing that ye have put off. the old man with his deeds ; 
and have put on the new man, which is renewed in 
knowledge after the image of him that created him ; 



SERMON VIII. 



where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor 
uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free : but 
Christ is all, and in all. Put on, therefore, as the elect 
of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, 
humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering, forbearing 
one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have 
a quarrel against any ; even as Christ forgave you, so 
also do ye; and above all these things put on charity, 
which is the bond of perfectness ; and let the Deace of 
God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in 
one body " (Col. iii. 9-15). 

What do you think of the mystery of God-likeness ? 
God made man like unto himself. Man lost this likeness 
by transgression. The gospel is God's plan of restoration. 
Glorious, wonderful, world-embracing plan! What is it 
to be like God ? He loves his enemies. If I, through 
the power of the truth, love my enemies, I am like God ? 
He blesses those who despiteful ]y use and dishonor him. 
If I do the same I am like him. He loves all men. I 
do the same, and I am therefore like unto my " Father 
w T ho is in heaven." Are you like God ? If not, you are 
not a Christian. Do you love your enemies? If not, 
you are not a child of God. Do you desire the salvation 
of the world? If not, God has not been restored to the 
control of your heart. Do you live for self? If you do, 
your heart is still impure. You can not— it is useless to 
try it — live a Christian until you become one, and you can 
not become one unless you are "created in Christ Jesus 
unto good works" (Eph. ii. 10). How is this done? 
Jesus is the image of God (Col. i. 15). He is the reve- 
lation of wisdom, righteousness, power, goodness, justice, 
truth, holiness, mercy, love, gentleness, faith, obedience, 
meekness, power, forbearance, long-suffering, self-denial, 



THE LIKENESS AND IMAGE OF GOD. 



165 



self-sacifice and liberality. You can not possess Christ 
unless you possess all of these. Everything depends 
upon whether you have Christ within you (Gal. iv. 9). 
If you have, you are like God ; if you have not, you are 
on the road to ruin. Why do so many people have such 
low conceptions of the Christian life ? Because they 
have not received Christ; because they have not been 
created anew, in the ima^e and likeness of God. Just 
in proportion as God dwells in us will we be able to 
combat the evils of the world. The religion of the New 
Testament binds men to God ; restores Him to the 
supremacy of mind and life. " Know ye not that ye are 
the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth 
in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall 
God destroy ; for the temple of God is holy, which temple 
ye are" (I. Cor. iii. 16, 17). " For this cause I bow my 
knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom 
the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that he 
would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to 
be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner 
man ; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith ; that 
ye, being rooted and grounded in love, mav be able to 
comprehend, with all saints, what is tne breadth, and 
length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of 
Christ, which pas^eth knowledge, that ye might he filled 
with all the fulness of God"(Eph. iii. 14-19). The 
Christian has Christ formed in him. He is filled with 
the Spirit. He is the temple of the living God. Christ 
dwells in his heart by faith. He is rooted and grounded 
in love. Have you Christ formed in you ? Are you 
filled with thejSpirit? Are you the temple of God? 
Does Jesus Christ dwell in your heart by faith? Are 



166 



SERMON VIIL 



you rooted and grounded in love ? If not, how can you 
claim to be a Christian ? 

Has God a method of reaching the people, of driving 
sin from the heart, of reestablishing himself in every 
faculty of the mind, and therefore in every act of the life ? 
Is it a perfect method ? Is it adapted to the wants of 
men? Will it destroy our love of sin? Will it keep us 
from transgressing the law of God? Will it enthrone 
God in the heart? What is it? The gospel of Jesus 
Christ. Is it enough to save us ? All religious people 
admit that it is. Do their practices correspond with this 
concession ? No. Examine their practices. Do they 
glorify the gospel ? They turn away from it, and pray 
for God to send salvation down from heaven! This is 
inconsistent and contradictory, and it drives many honest 
men into infidelity. Let us come down to Bible facts. 
God's method of making men like himself is in harmony 
with our constitution, and our intellectual, moral and 
spiritual nature. Sin must be destroyed. How can it be 
done? It has led the minds of men into captivity"; into 
the bondage of degradation. In order to conquer the 
lusts and passions of the flesh the mind must be enlight- 
ened, purified, captivated, by the truth, for it inspires in 
the heart an inclination, a determination, to do right. 
The more completely God is enthroned within, the more 
fully the life will conform to the requirements of the 
gospel. All actions proceed from the heart, the mind. 
Good actions come from the heart as God made it, or as 
it is cleansed by the gospel. Bad acts come from the 
perverted heart. You may condemn this as " head 
religion " if you wish, but I know of no religion — true 
religion — that does not involve the mind. Do you? 

How did the Lord operate at the beginning (Luke 



THE LIKENESS AND IMAGE OF GOD. 167 



xxiv. 49) ? Peter and his associates preached the gospel. 
Who were Peter and his co-laborers ? The apostles of 
Jesus Christ. What gospel, or good news, did they 
preach? The gospel of Christ. Why did they preach 
the gospel of Christ ? In order to convert the people, or 
turn them from sin. Why did they desire to turn them 
from sin? In order to make men like God. Why make 
them like God ? In order to prepare their hearts for his 
indwelling, and unite him to them forever. Did they 
proceed as if they believed the gospel to-day sufficient to 
save the people ? They did. Did they exhort the brethren 
to pray for converting power to descend upon the people ? 
They did not. Why not ? Because they had the power 
in the gospel of Christ. What was the position of the 
Jews in reference to the gospel ? They were opposed to 
it. Why were they opposed to it ? Because they w T ere 
wicked unbelievers. What was the condition of their 
hearts? They were desperately sinful. Were they like 
God? Were they sinless, innocent, pure and good? 
They were transformed into the children of the devil by 
evil works. Did they believe in one God ? Yes, but 
they did not respect his law. Were they seeking for 
light? They were contented in the darkness. Did God 
dwell in them? They were murderers! Were they 
filled with the Spirit ? They were filled with malice. 
Were they governed by love ? They followed their own 
way, regardless of truth or sympathy. What brought 
them together on the day of Pentecost? Nothing but 
idle curiosity. Did the apostles tell them that nothing 
but omnipotence could break their stony hearts? Cer- 
tainly not. Why not? Because such a statement wou!d 
have been false. What did they do ? They reasoned 
with the people. They preached Christ and him crucified. 



168 



SERMON VIII. 



They directed their arguments to the minds of the peo- 
ple. Their words were freighted with truth, and there- 
fore produced conviction in the minds of the people. 
The sermon is a startling arraignment of the people for 
their sins. Each thought was an arrow winged with 
light, and when it struck the heart it startled its possessor 
into a realization of Ins guilt before God. See the dark- 
ness fly ! See the light of heaven pour into the soul ! 
Seethe heart quiver under the power of divine truth! 
See the devil forsake the throne to which he had no 
right, and the Lord entering the heart as its rightful 
sovereign ! See the dominion of ignorance, prejudice, 
hatred and disobedience crumble into ruin ! See the 
desire to know and do the will of God burst from the 
heart into a living reality ! This preaching pricked them 
in their heart. It pierced to the deepest depths of their 
understanding. They saw their condition in what they 
heard, in the gospel. Is it any wonder that fear took 
possession of them? Is it any wonder that sorrow for 
sin filled their hearts? Is it any wonder that they were 
stricken with grief? Is it any wonder that they cried 
from the depths of their broken hearts : " Men and 
brethren, what shall we do?" What produced this 
change in these people? Hearing and believing the gos- 
pel. Why did they inquire what to do? Because they 
saw their condition. When the truth takes possession of 
a man and pricks his heart, and convicts him of his sins, 
he does not stop to argue, he inquires what to do, and 
does it at once. This question shows the condition of 
the man within : faith, fear, anxiety, willingness and 
trouble. Were they saved when they asked this ques- 
tion? If so, why did they ask it? Did the apostle 
answer it ? Yes. Is his answer worthy of attention, 



THE LIKENESS AND IMAGE OF GOD. 



109 



and is it an answer to people in a similar condition in all 
the ages of the world? It is. What was the answer? 
" Repent, and be baptized, every one of you, in the name 
of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and ye shall 
receive the gift of the Holy Spirit " (Acts ii. 38). What 
is repentance ? A change of mind that leads to a refor- 
mation of life. What is baptism? A burial and resur- 
rection (Rom. vi. 4). What is it for? The remission of 
sins. What follows the remission of sins? The gift of 
the Holy Spirit. This question and answer are applica- 
ble to us under similar circumstances. Preaching pro- 
duced conviction, conviction produced the question, and 
the question called forth the answer. Did the people 
hesitate to do their duty when they had learned it? 
They did not. Did any penitents go away seeking, 
mourning or inquiring? Not one. The apostles had a 
definite plan. They were guided by the Lord. They 
told the people what to do, and they did it. They were 
added to the church. Were they saved? Were they 
made like unto God? Were they filL-d with the Spirit 
of truth ? Did they put on u the new man " ? Most 
assuredly ! Suppose they had refused to " repent and 
be baptized," would they have been saved? No. A 
refusal would have been positive rebellion against the 
authority of Jesus Christ, and an undeniable evidence 
that their hearts were yet impure and that they loved 
their own ways more than they loved the way of God. 
Their baptism was the result of repentance ; their repent- 
ance was the result of faith; their faith was the result of 
hearing; what they heard was the result of the preach- 
ing of the apostles ; the preaching of the apostles was 
♦ inspired by the Lord ; hence he works in us both " to 
will and to do " (Phil. ii. 13) when we hear, believe and 



170 



SERMON VIII. 



obey the gospel of Christ. This is the way we have the 
mind of Christ (Phil. v. 2), or partake of the divine 
nature (II. Pet. i. 4). 

The gospel is God's power ; his only power unto sal- 
vation. It makes men like God when they receive and 
keep it in their hearts. It is the principle of union be- 
tween God and man, and therefore the basis of union 
among the people of God. It made Christians of the 
people who heard it on the day of Pentecost, in the city 
of Samaria, and at the house of Cornelius. It is growing 
in influence, and it will continue its conquests until the 
world is turned to Christ. You have it on your hands. 
What will you do with it ? Do you desire to be a Chris- 
tian ? Do you desire to be like God ? Do you desire to 
be like Jesus? If so you may be " changed into the 
same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the 
Lord " (II. Cor. iii. 18), and " be like him ; for we shall 
see him as he is" (John iii. 2). Do you sigh for freedom 
from sin ? Jesus Christ can make you free. Will you 
obey him ? The New Testament reveals the way. It 
is unmistakably plain. Will you walk in it ? On what 
:are you building? What if God should call you now? 
Soon your soul will be required of you, and if you are 
not a Christian, w r hat then ? Death ! the second death ! 
eternal death ! 



DISOBEDIENCE. 



171 



SERMON IX. 

DISOBEDIENCE. 

Text : " But unto them that are contentious, and do not 
obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and 
wrath, tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that 
doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile " (Rom. 
ii. 8, 9). 

What does the Bible say about disobedience? Can 
we understand the Bible, and are we therefore responsi- 
ble if we disobey it? Are you willing for it to testify 
for itself? Will you receive its admonitions ? Will you 
abide by its decisions? 

There are two ways of looking into this subject. (1) 
By finding what is said concerning disobedience ; for when 
a blessing is promised to the obedient a curse is always 
implied for the disobedient. (2) By finding what is 
said concerning obedience itself. Does the Bible 
promise any special blessing to those who obey the Lord? 
or do his blessings descend upon us whether we are ready 
and willing to receive them or not? " Behold, to obey 
is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of 
rams; for rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stub- 
bornness is as iniquity and idolatry" (I. Sam. xv. 22, 
23). " Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye 
shall be my people; and walk ye in all the ways that I 
have commanded you, that it may be well unto you" 
(Jer. vii. 23). " Though he were a Son, yet learned he 



172 



SERMON IX. 



obedience by the things which he suffered; and being 
made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation 
unto all them that obey him " (Hel>. v. 8, 9). u Seeing 
ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth" (L 
Pet. i. 22). " The word of God increased ; and the num- 
ber of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly ; and 
a great company of the priests were obedient to the 
faith" (Acts. vi. 7). "Then Peter opened his mouth, 
and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter 
of persons ; but in every nation he that feareth him, and 
worketh righteousness, is accepted with him " (Acts x. 
34, 35). " Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: 
Fear God and keep his commandments; for this is the 
whole duty of man " (Eccl. xii. 13). These passages 
teach us: (1) Ohedience is better than sacrifice. (2) 
Rebellion, witchcraft, stubbornness, iniquity and idolatry 
are classed together. (3) God will be our God if we 
obey his voice. (4) It will be well with us if we walk 
in all the Lord's ways. (5) Jesus Christ is the author 
of eternal salvation unto all those who obey him. (6) 
We purify our soul in obeying the truth. (7) As the 
word of God increases men become u obedient to the 
faith." (8) Those in every nation who fear God and 
work righteousness are accepted with God. (9) The 
conclusion of the whole matter is to fear God and keep 
his commandments. 

* For the time is come thit judgment must begin at 
the house of God ; and if it first begin at us, what shall 
the end be of them that obey not the gospel of G< d? 
And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the 
ungodly and the sinner appear?" (I. Pet. iv. 17, 18). 
" In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know 
not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus 



DISOBEDIENCE. 



173 



Christ" (II. Thes. i. 8). " Mortify therefore your mem- 
bers which are upon the earth ; fornication, uncleanness, 
inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, 
which is idolatry; for which things' sake the wrath of 
God cometh on the children of disobedience " (Col. iii. 5, 
6). " Let no man deceive you with vain words ; for be- 
cause of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the 
children of disobedience " (Eph. v. 6). " They profess 
that they know God; but in works they deny him, being 
abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work 
devoid of judgment v (Titus i. 16). " They are of those 
that rebel against the light ; they know not the ways 
thereof, nor abide in the paths thereof" (Job xxiv. 13). 
" And this is the condemnation that light is come into 
the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, 
because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth 
evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light,Jest his 
deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth 
cometh to the light that his deeds may be marie manifest 
that they are wrought in God" (John iii. 19-21). These 
passages assert: (1) That the righteous will scarcely be 
saved, and that there is no chance for the disobedient. 
(2) That the Lord will take vengeance on those who 
" know not God, and obey not the gospel of our Lord 
Jesus Christ." (3) That the wrath of God will come 
upon the children of disobedience. (4) That abomina- 
tions and disobedience are closely connected. (5) That 
a man may profess to know God, and yet deny him in 
his works. (6) That we have the power to rebel against 
the light, and therefore against God. (7) That men love 
darkness because their doings are evil. (8) That those 
who do right are neither ashamed nor afraid of the light. 
What is obedience? Yielding to the demands of 



174 



SERMON IX. 



4 



authority. What is disobedience ? Refusing to respect 
or yield to the demands of authority. Any deviation, 
even in the remotest degree, is disobedience. Jesus 
Christ is supreme, and his authority must be respected. 
What produces obedience? An enlightened mind and a 
willing heart. What produces disobedience ? A wicked 
mind and a rebellious heart. Who are the children of 
obedience or faith ? Those who receive and obey the 
gospel. Who are the children of disobedience or unbe- 
lief? Those who wilfully pervert, contend against, or 
refuse to submit to the requirements of the gospel. Why 
do men obey the truth? Because they love and honor 
God. Why do many refuse to obey it? Because they 
love sin and hate the light. What will be the destiny of 
the obedient? They will be saved. What will be the 
destiny of the disobedient? They will be u punished 
with everlasting -destruction from the presence of the 
Lord, and from the glory of his power." Why did 
Jesus Christ come into the world ? In order that he 
might reveal the will of God and subdue the world to 
his authority. Why was it necessary to reveal the will 
of God? In order that men might obey it. Why is it 
necessary for us to obey it? In order to the purification 
of our hearts, our minds, our lives. Why is it necessary 
for us to be pure? Because sin can not enter heaven. 
Have those who refuse to obey the gospel any promise of 
present or eternal salvation? Not one ! Are you living in 
disobedience ? If so, how can you expect the reward that 
is promised to the obedient ? Are you sowing to the 
flesh? If you are, you will reap corruption ! Do you 
expect everlasting life in the world to c(5me ? Are you 
worthy of it? Are you prepared to receive and enjoy 
it ? God's word must stand. If it condemns you now 



DISOBEDIENCE. 



175 



it vv*ill condemn you forever unless you repent. Think. 
u Everlasting destruction ! " " Everlasting punishment ! " 
" Everlasting shame and contempt ! " 

In how many ways may a man disobey the law of 
God? Four. What are they? Ask the Bible. What 
does it say ? (1) By flatly, positively, and rebelliously 
refusing to do anything that it commands. u Ye will 
not come unto me, that ye might have life " (John v. 
40). " O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the 
prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee ; how 
often would I have gathered thy children together, as a 
hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would 
not" (Luke xiii. 34) ! (2) By adding to it, or (3) taking 
from it ; by doing more or less than it requires. " Ye 
shall not add unto the word which T command you, 
neither shall ye diminish aught from it, that ye may keep 
the commandments of the Lord your God which I com- 
mand you " (Deut. iv. 2). " What thing soever I com- 
mand you, observe to do it; thou shalt not add thereto, 
nor diminish from it" (Deut. xii. 32). " Add thou not 
unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found 
a liar" (Prov. xxx. 6). " For I testify unto every man 
that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If 
any man shall add unto these things, God shtll add unto 
him the plagues that are written in this book ; and if any 
man shall take away from the words of the book of this 
prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book 
of life, and out of the holy ciiy, and from the things 
which are written in this book" (Rev. xxii. 18, 19). (4) 
By substituting something else for it. " Woe unto them 
that call evil good, and good evil ; that put darkness for 
light, and light f>r darkness ; that put bitter for sweet, 
and sweet for bitter ! Woe unto them that are wise in 



176 



SERMON IX. 



their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight ! Woe 
unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of 
strength to mingle strong drink : which justify the 
wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of 
the righteous from him ! Therefore as the fire devoureth 
the stuoble, and the flame consumeth the chaff, so their 
root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up 
as dust ; because they have cast away the law of the Lord 
of hosts, and despised the word of the holy one of 
Israel " (Isaiah v. 20-24). " Behold, all ye that kindle 
a fire, that compass yourself about with sparks: walk in 
the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have 
kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand; ye shall lie 
down in sorrow" (Isaiah I. 11). The passages contain 
some significent facts : (1) We have no right to substi- 
tute light for darkness, or darkness for light. (2) It is a 
violation of the law of God to put evil for good, or good 
for evil. (3) The wisdom and prudence of man are as noth- 
ing in the sight of God. (4) The prophet pronounces a woe 
upon those who " mingle strong drink" and " justify the 
wicked for reward." (5) We may kindle our own fires 
and walk in the light of them if we choose. (6) God 
has decreed that all such " shall lie down in sorrow." 
(7) Those who substitute their ways for the Lord's way, 
cast away his law and despise his word. 

God has been speaking to men through all the ages of 
the world. What have they done with his word ? Some 
have rejected it entirely. Others have added something 
to it. Others have done less than it demands. Others 
have substituted their frail opinions for the truth. These 
four propositions cover every act of disobedience in 
religion, in the family, in the government, and in nature. 
A father commands his son to do a certain piece of work. 



DISOBEDIENCE. 



Ill 



What can he do with this command ? Either obey it or 
disobey it. How can he obey it ? By doing exactly 
what is required. How can he disobey it? By posi- 
tively rejecting the command; by adding something to 
it; by taking something from it; or by substituting 
something else for the will of his Father. A govern- 
ment sends a man to represent it at a foreign court. His 
instructions are full, complete and unmistakably plain. 
What can he do with them ? He can obey them or dis- 
obey them. How^ can he obey them ? By doing his 
duty in every particular. How can he disobey them? 
By abandoning them altogether ; by adding something to 
them; by taking something from them; or by substitut- 
ing something else for them. God freely gives us the air 
we breathe. What can w r e do with it? Either accept it 
or reject it. How can we accept it? By breathing it 
fully and continuously. How can we reject it? By 
closing the avenues by which it enters our lungs; by 
adding something to it; by refusing to receive it continu- 
ously ; or by attempting to substitute something else for 
it. Suppose we refuse to breathe the air of heaven, has 
God any other method of perpetuating life? None! 
God offers us the bread of life. What can we do with 
it? Either accept it or reject it. How can we accept 
it? By eating it in order to eternal life. How T can we 
reject it? By turning away from it entirely; by adding 
something to it; by taking something from it; or by 
substituting something else for it. God is speaking to 
you! What^will you do with his w T ord? Will you 
refuse to hear him; accept only a part of what he says; 
add your opinions and conclusions to it; or substitute 
some other religion for it? In either case you would 
disobey him. God commands us to believe. What can 



178 



SERMON IX. 



we do with this command ? Either obey it or disobey it. 
How can we obey it? By accepting the truth with the 
whole heart. How can we disobey it? By disbelieving 
it altogether; by believing only a part ; by believing too 
much ; or by believing something else. He commands 
us to repent. How can we obey this command ? By 
changing our minds and reforming our lives. How can 
we disobey it? By stopping our ears against it; by 
turning from only a part of our sins ; by adding to the 
requirement; or by substituting something to balance 
against our transgressions? He commands us to confess 
our faith in Jesus Christ. How can we qbey this com- 
mand? By acknowledging with the mouth our faith in 
Jesus as u the Son of the living God." How can we dis- 
obey it? By turning away from it entirely; by confess- 
ing that he lived, but denying his divinity ; by adding 
something to the "good confession"; or by confessing 
our faith in the speculations of men. He commands 
penitent believers to be baptized. How can w^e obey 
this command ? By doing what the New Testament 
requires. How can we disobey it? By treating it with 
contempt ; by adding something ta it ; by taking some- 
thing from it; or by substituting sprinkling or pouring 
for the demands of the gospel of Christ. 

Unbelief and disobedience have been the cause of all 
the divisions, contentions and troubles that have befallen 
the Church of Christ since its establishment in the city 
of Jerusalem. What caused the great apostasy? Men 
refused to hear the word of God; added to its revela- 
tions; failed to do all that it required; and substituted 
their weak productions and unreliable speculations for 
the word of the living God. What produces, fosters and 
perpetuates division among the people of God? The 



DISOBEDIENCE. 



179 



substitution of human tests of fellowship for the New 
Testament. What produced the denominations of mod- 
ern times? Disobedience to the word of God. Why do 
men refuse to receive the gospel of Christ? Because of 
unbelief and hardness of heart. Why do many pro- 
fessing Christians reject a part of it ? Because their faith 
is too weak to accept the entire plan. Why is their faith 
weak? Because they do not search the Scriptures. Why 
do they add their speculations to its demands? Because, 
in their ignorance, they think that the pure and simple 
truth is insufficient to save them. Why do they substi- 
tute their inventions tor the appointments of heaven ? 
Because of pride, ignorance and superstition. Why are 
men proud? Because they refuse to see their condition 
as the Lord reveals it in his word. Why are they igno- 
rant ? Because they do not ask the Bible for informa- 
tion. Why are they superstitious ? Because they have 
never been divorced from their idols ! 

We have no right to interfere with the word of God, 
and we can only do it at our peril. When he says a 
thing is true it is*our duty to believe it. When he com- 
mands, it is our duty to obey. We can not deviate " one 
jot or one tittle" trom the truth and claim to live in 
obedience to the law of Christ, No man can claim any 
of the blessings of the New Testament unless he does 
everything it requires, in the manner, at the time and 
for the purpose ordained by the Lord. Do you say this 
is despotic? I deny it. A law is a dead letter unless it 
demands the absolute respect, confidence and obedience 
of the people. If a man can trample on the law of Christ 
through life and be saved in the end, it is the most stu- 
pendous system of deception that the world has ever 
known ! If God saves men who do not live in obedi- 



180 



SERMON IX. 



ence to his word he honors them more than the obedient ; 
and therefore become a respecter of persons. Does God 
speak foolishness to his creatures ? Such a thought is 
absurd. Does he give them a law, and then bless them 
in disobedience, before they submit to all of his require- 
ments? Does he save one when he believes; another 
when he believes and repents ; another when he believes, 
repents and confesses Christ ; another when he believes, 
repents, confesses Christ and is baptized? Does he save 
men when they come to die, obedience or no obedience? 
If he does his practices contradict his word, and he is 
partial in his dealings with men. God forbid that I 
should harbor in my heart a thought so wicked and 
rebellious as this! Here are two men. The first one 
obeys the gospel and lives a life of honesty, sobriety and 
self-denial. The other one is contentious, and refuses to 
obey the truth. He comes down to his death-bed. His 
body is paralyzed by disease. The gates of hell open 
before him. He does everything in his power to live, 
but the physicians shake their heads in dismay, and 
inform him that he must die. What is the result ? 
liV hen he finds that he can not live and serve himself and 
the devil any longer, he sends for a preacher. What 
does the preacher do ? He sings and prays. In his 
struggle between life and death the man " professes a 
change," and passes away. At the funeral his life is held 
up to the admiration and for the imitation of his 
friends, and his relations are consoled with the assurance 
that he is " asleep in Jesus," and that they may meet him 
in the eternal kingdom. Did this maa believe the word 
of truth ? He did not, for he knew nothing about it. 
Did he repent ? No ; he held on to his sins until he was 
unable to continue in his wicked practices. Did he con- 



DISOBEDIENCE. 



181 



fess Christ while he was in health? Was he baptized ? 
Did he die in Christ? No, most emphatically ! Did he 
obey the gospel ? Not in a single requirement. Was he 
saved? Not according to the Bible. 

The gospel is the standard of attainment, and it is 
our unchangeable duty to do all that it requires. The 
Lord promises aliens the forgiveness of sins, and mem- 
bership in the Church of Christ, on the conditions of faith 
and obedience, and he can not accept them on fewer con- 
ditions unless he disregards his word. Can he admit 
you into his kingdom, into his love, into his name, while 
you disregard his will and trample his mercies under 
your feet? He promises the Christian an abundant 
entrance into the home of the pure and good on the con- 
ditions of godliness, righteousness and sobriety. Can he 
accept you, my brother, if you live exclusively for your- 
self? The way to heaven includes (1) faith in Christ and 
obedience to the gospel in order to the remission of past 
sins and admission into the kindgom on earth; and (2) 
faithful living in order to deliverance from all tempta- 
tion and sin, and admission into the kingdom above. No 
Bible student will dispute these assertions. Men who 
never study the word of God are apt to be contentious, 
and ready to dispute anything that does not harmonize 
with their opinions. What will be the destiny of those 
who do not obey the gospel " for the remission of sins 
that are past" ; who have never honored Jesus Christ by 
putting him on in his appointed way ; whose characters 
have been a standing menace to the purity of society and 
the authority of the Lord? Can they shake off their 
sins when they lie down to die ? Can they undo a sin- 
ful life and prepare for heaven in the delirium of death ? 
Can they compromise with the opportunities they have 



182 SERMON IX. 

insulted, and gain the approval of God, while battling 
with disease? Can they go to heaven just because they 
do not want to go to hell ? Do you answer in the affirm- 
ative ? You can not feed yourself on a more fatal and 
soul-destroying delusion I- 

Obedience is a straight line. God has marked this 
line deep and clear. There is no excuse for the disobe- 
dient. They rebel against light and knowledge, and 
" tribulation and anguish " will be their inevitable des- 
tiny. They contend against the truth, and their eternal 
portion will be " indignation and wrath. " The Scrip- 
tures abound with illustrations proving conclusively that 
the Lord will not permit any deviation from his word. 
He means what he says, no more, no less. God is no 
respecter of persons. He is absolutely impartial in his 
dealings with men. If you die, therefore, it will be your 
own fault ; you will be the author of your own destruc- 
tion. Why did Moses and Aaron die before they reached 
the promised land ? Because they rebelled against the 
word of God (Num. xx. 24). How did they rebel 
against it? The children of Israel came into the desert 
of Zin, and they murmured because there was no water. 
Moses and Aaron went to the Lord. He told them what 
to do: (1) Take the rod. (2) Assemble the people. 
(3) Speak to the rock. Were these instructions explicit? 
They were. What did Moses and Aaron do? Moses 
took the rod, as the Lord commanded him to do. They 
gathered the congregation together before the rock. 
Moses spoke to the people and smote the rock twice ! 
Presumption ! disobedience ! rebellion ! What was the 
penalty? "The Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron, 
Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of 
the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this 



DISOBEDIENCE. 



183 



congregation into the land which I have given them " 
(Num. xx. 1-12). Moses substituted his way for the 
Lord's way, and the Lord said unto him: "Thou shalt 
not go thither unto the land which I give the children of 
Israel" (Deut. xxxii. 52). Do you say the difference 
between what God commanded and what Moses and 
Aaron did was unimportant? Let us see. They received 
three commands. They obeyed two of them, and dis- 
obeyed the other, and yet they disobeyed God in four 
particulars: (1) They rebelled against his word. (2) 
They did too much. (3) They did not do enough. (4) 
They substituted their way for the demands of God. 
Again, the children of Israel became " grieved because 
of the way," and they " spake against God, and against 
Moses." The Lord sent fiery serpents among them. 
Thousands were bitten. They saw their condition and 
confessed their sins. Moses asked God w r hat to do. The 
Lord told him what to do : (1) Make a serpent of brass. 
(2) Put it upon a pole. (3) Those who would look 
upon it would be healed. Suppose Moses had made a 
serpent of gold, put it on the ground, and had com- 
manded the people to touch it, what w r ould have been the 
result? Not a single one would have been saved. 
Hence the great necessity of adhering strictly, conscien- 
tiously and continuously to what the Lord commands. 
Suppose Moses had made a brass ox and put it on the 
pole, or suppose he had utterly rejected the instructions 
of the Lord. His wrath would have been poured out 
upon the defenseless host (Num. xxi. 4-9). Woe to the 
man or angel that rejects the word of God. Naaman, 
the captain of the hosts of the King of Syria, was a 
leper. A captive maiden from the land of Israel told 
him of the prophet Elisha. He went to the land of 



184 



SERMON IX. 



Israel, and applied to the king for restoration to health. 
The king was insulted. The prophet heard of this, and 
sent word to the king to send the leper to him. Naaman 
came with great splendor, and stood at Elisha's door. 
He sent a messenger to him, and commanded him, say- 
ing: Ci Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh 
shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean. " "But 
Naaman was wroth, and went away, and said, Behold, I 
thought, he will surely come out to me, and stand, and 
call on the name of the Lord his God, and strike his 
hand over the place, and recover the leper. Are not 
Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all 
the waters of Israel ? May I not wash in them and be 
clean ? So he turned, and went away in a rage. And 
his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, 
My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great 
thing, wouldest thou not have done it? How much 
rather, then, when he saith to thee, Wash and be clean? 
Then went he down and dipped himself seven times in 
Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God ; and 
his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, 
and lie was clean " (II. Kings v. 1-14). Why did 
Naaman, at first, refuse to " wash and be clean "? Be- 
cause the blessing did not come in his way ! He was 
disappointed because the prophet did not do some great 
thing. Why did he want to wash in some other water ? 
Because he had not learned the lesson of obedience. 
What would have been the result if he had dipped him- 
self seven times in the Abana? He would have lived 
and died a leper ! Observe the command : 11 Go 
wasli in Jordan seven times." Seven times. Not 
one time, or six times, but seven times ! What does the 
word wash mean ? Dip or immerse. Suppose he had 



DISOBEDIENCE. 1 85 

rejected the command ; added something to it ; taken 
something from it ; or substituted something else for it, 
what would have been the result ? He would have 
received the reward of the disobedient ! In the ninth 
chapter of John we learn that Jesus opened the eyes of a 
blind man. In what way was it done ? He anointed 
his eyes with clay and spittle, and commanded him to go 
and wash in the pool of Siloam, and he obeyed and came 
seeing. This man w T as trustful, obedient, honest; hence 
he-did precisely what the Lord commanded him to do. 
He had the power to reject the commandment of Jesus 
entirely, to add to it, to take from it, or to do something 
else in its place, but he chose to do his whole duty and 
leave the results in the hands of the Saviour. What 
power opened this man's eyes? The power of God. At 
w T hat time were his eyes opened ? When he became obe- 
dient to the command of Christ, What power restored 
the bitten Israelites? The power of God. When were 
they restored? When they obeyed the Lord. What 
power cured Xaaman of his leprosy? The power of 
God. At what time was he cleansed ? When he obeyed 
the instructions of the man of God. What power saves 
men from the love and dominion of sin ? The power of 
God. When ? At the very moment they comply w T ith 
the conditions of the gospel. 

What expelled Adam and Eve irom the Garden of 
Eden? Disobedience. What caused the flood? Dis- 
obedience. What kept Moses and Aaron out of the 
promised land ? Disobedience ? What dethroned Saul, 
the first king of Israel ? Disobedience. What caused 
the destruction of the Jewish nation, and their subse- 
quent dispersion among all the nations of the earth? 
Disobedience. What delays the conversion of the world ? 



186 



SERMON IX. 



Disobedience. What keeps you out of the Church of 
Christ? Disobedience. What elevates the creeds into 
tests of fellowship ? Disobedience. What curses the 
world, and bolts forever the gates of heaven to many ? 
Disobedience. 

Are you a Christian? Are you a Bible Christian? 
Are you an obedient Christian ? Are you an earnest 
Christian? Are you a faithful Christian ? If not, what 
are you ? Do you ever reject the truth ? Do you ever 
add anything to it ? Do you ever take anything from it ? 
Do you ever substitute anything else for it? If you do 
either, God will curse you in the coming day ! God has 
never compromised with sin — rebellion — and he never 
will. Do you reject the name of Jesus Christ? Do you 
add anything to it ? Do you take anything from it? Do 
you substitute a human name for it ? If so, how can 
you claim to be a member of his church ? Do you search 
the Scriptures? Do you obey the truth unreservedly, 
steadfastly, continuously? Everything depends upon 
you. God has done his part; the way to heaven is com- 
plete, and you must accept it or suffer. God said to 
Cain: " If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? 
and if thou doest not well sin lieth at the door v (Gen. 
iv. 7). Moses said: " Behold, I set before you this day 
a blessing and a curse ; a blessing if ye obey the com- 
mandments of the Lord your God, which I command 
you this day ; and a curse, if ye will not obey the com- 
mandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside out of 
the way which I command you this day, to go after other 
gods, which ye have not known " (Deut. xi. 26-28). 
Joshua said : " Choose you this day whom ye will serve n 
(Josh. xxiv. 15). Elijah said: "How long halt ye 
between two opinions? If the Lord be God, follow 



DISOBEDIENCE. 



187 



him; but if Baal, follow him " (I. Kings xviii. 21). 
Jesus Christ said : " No man can serve two masters ; for 
either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he 
will hold to the one and despise the other. Ye can not 
serve God and mammon" (Matt. vi. 24). James said: 
" Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth 
it not, to him it is sin" (Jas. iv. 17). Will you be a 
Christian ? Will yon be a Christian according to the 
Bible? Will you begin to-day? 



188 



SERMON X. 



SERMON X. 



GOD IS, AND OUR RELATION TO HIM. 

Text : " But without faith it is impossible to please him : 
for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is 
a rewarder of them that diligently seek him " (Heb. xi. 6). 

" God is." How deep! How glorious! How won- 
derful ! How profound ! Language can not reveal it. 
An attempt to describe his glories shows the weakness of 
even the grandest triumphs of human speech. We can 
not measure his dominion or encompass the wonders of 
his kingdom while we tread the vale of sorrow, sin and 
death. God is the source of all things natural, spiritual 
and eternal. -He is, was, and evermore shall be. Can 
your mind grasp the thought ? Can you count the drops 
of water in the ocean ? Can you count the stars in the 
vault of heaven? Can you estimate the number of 
worlds in limitless space ? Can time measure eternity ? 
Can the finite comprehend the infinite? Can the human 
endure the uncreated radiance, majesty and power of the 
Uncreated ? Can our faint reverberations of the notes 
of Eden lost, equal the triumphant symphonies of heaven ? 
With burdened hearts, with quivering lips, and with tear- 
stained eyes, we exclaim from the measureless depths of 
our fears, our un worthiness, our sins : " Woe is me, for I 
am undone ! 99 

We stand within the narrow limits of human life 
and gaze backward beyond the time when our eyes first 



GOT) IS, AND OUR RELATION TO HIM. 



189 



saw the light ; beyond the struggles of the Reformation, 
beyond the Dark Ages ; beyond the death of the apostles ; 
beyond the beginning of the gospel in the city of Jeru- 
salem ; beyond the ascension and glorification of Jesus 
Christ ; beyond his wonderful life and birth ; beyond the 
wilderness in which John the Baptist broke the silence of 
four hundred years ; beyond Malachi, the valedictorian of 
the Old Testament ; beyond Jeremiah's tear-burdened 
wail, and Isaiah's song of triumph ; beyond Solomon's 
shame and David's glory; beyond the crossing over Jor- 
dan ; beyond the Red Sea ; beyond Israel's bondage in 
Egypt ; beyond Melchizedek, the priest of God ; beyond 
Abraham, the prince of the patriarchs; beyond the flood; 
beyond Adam's death and life ; beyond the crumbling 
gates of man's primeval home ; beyond creation's morn- 
ing; beyond, yes, beyond the limit of an archangel's 
flight through countless years, and God, our Father, is 
from everlasting to everlasting ! Reversing our tele- 
scope, we look beyond the boundary lines of our present 
existence ; beyond the grave that opens to receive us ; be- 
yond the trumpet's sound through land and sea ; beyond 
the resurrection morning ; beyond the second coming of 
Christ; beyond the wild, destructive flames that will con- 
sume both earth and sky ; beyond the judgment day ; 
beyond the gates of the city of God ; beyond, yes, 
infinitely beyond the most extended flight of the imag- 
ination, and God, our Father, is from everlasting to ever- 
lasting ! 

" God is." He knows all things. He is the fountain 
of all power. He sees all things. We can not escape 
his knowledge of our sins. We can not escape his power. 
We can not go beyond his eyes. We can not resist his 
judgment. We can not escape destruction if we refuse to 



190 



SERMON X. 



obey his will. What do you think of him ? Do you 
love and serve him? David said: a O Lord, thou hast 
searched me, and known me. Thou knowest my down- 
sitting and mine uprising; thou understandest my thought 
afar off. Thou compassest my path and my lying down, 
and thou art acquainted with all my ways. For there is 
not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O Lord, thou knowest 
it altogether. Thou hast beset me behind and before, 
and laid thine hand upon me. Such knowledge is too 
wonderful for me ; it is high, I can not attain unto it. 
Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I 
flee from thy presence ? If I ascend up into heaven, 
thou are there ; if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou 
art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and 
dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there shall 
thy hand lead me ; even thy night shall be light about 
me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee ; but the 
night shineth as the day; the darkness and the light are 
both alike to thee " (Psa. exxxix. 1-12). Job said : " For 
his eyes are upon the ways of man, and he seeth all his 
goings. There is no darkness, nor shadow of death, 
where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves " 
(Job xxxiv. 21, 22). Solomon said: " For the ways of 
man are before the eyes of the Lord, and he pondereth 
all his goings" (Prov. v. 21). Paul said: " Neither is 
there any creature that is not manifest in his sight ; but 
all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him 
with whom we have to do " (Heb. iv. 13). " Vengeance 
is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord" (Rom. xii. 19). 
" It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living 
God" (Heb. x. 31). " But a certain fearful looking for 
of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour 
the adversaries" (Heb. x. 27). a jFor our God is a con- 



GOD IS, AND OUR RELATION TO HIM. 



191 



suming fire " (Heb. xii. 29). 16 In flaming fire taking 
vengeance on those that know not God, and obey not the 
gospel of oui\Lord Jesus Christ ; who shall be punished 
with everlasting destruction from the presence of the 
Lord, and from the glory of his power " (II. Thes. i. 8, 
9). Peter said: " The eyes of the Lord are over the 
righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers ; but 
the face of the Lord is upon them that do evil" (I. Pet. 
iii. 12). These are living coals from the altar of God; 
thoughts inspired by heaven and winged with fire. Do 
they not startle you from your long dreams of rest in sin ? 
Do you not see that God is angry with your sins every 
day ? Can you claim security when you know you are a 
sinner in the government^of God? Do you not know 
that your life is an insult to the love and goodness of 
your Maker? Do you not^know that you are unfit for 
the society of the redeemed in heaven, and therefore 
in danger of hell? Do you not know life is uncertain, 
and that you can not shake off the character you are 
building when you come to your dying bed ? Do you 
want to be accursed when Jesus comes again ? If you 
live and die in your sins, you will deserve nothing less I 
" God is." Do you fear him? Do you honor his 
name? Do you respect his government? Do you rely 
upon his promises? Stop a moment and give an honest 
thought to the most wonderful subject within the range 
of your imagination. We look, we think, we meditate, 
and the thought sinks deeper, grows greater, soars higher, 
until we are lost in his boundless dominion, and the 
mind, " burdened, crushed and affrighted, flies into the 
little temple, bolts the door, and attempts to hide itself 
forever." 

The existence of God lies back of all the revelations 



192 



SERMON X. 



in the wondrous volumes of Creation, Providence and 
Redemption. He is over all his works and blessed for 
evermore. Look at creation. See him roll worlds 
from his mighty hands. You must meet the Creator of 
all these things face to face. He holds the universe into 
one grand, harmonious system. Can he not punish you 
for your offenses ? No sparrow falls to the ground with- 
out his notice, and yet you think you can insult his law 
and hide from his wrath ! Do these thoughts stir your 
soul to its depths ? If so, look to the Cross of Christ. 
It exhibits infinite love, divine condescension and mercy 
as inexhaustible as the wants of men. " For God so 
loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that 
whosoever belie veth in him should not perish, but have 
everlasting life ; for God sent not his Son to condemn 
the world; but that the world through him might be 
saved " (John iii. 16, 17). Angels, lift your harps on 
high and ring redemption's anthems through the skies ! 
Lift your notes of " victory through the Lamb," and 
let all creation echo the glad refrain : " the Messiah 
reigns ! " You must believe in God, " that he is, and 
that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him," 
and in his Son, Jesus Christ. No power but God can 
lift us out of sin. We can not get hold of hirn save 
" through faith." This faith is transcendently important. 
Without it no man can please God, or call God his 
Father. In the presence of eternity look away from self, 
from earth, from time's alloy, to the source of all love, 
all power, all goodness. God is a living reality, Christ 
is a living reality, the Holy Spirit is a living reality, and 
not what our imaginations paint them. They know, and 
think-, and feel, for these principles in humanity are the 
" likeness and image of God. " We believe, therefore, in 



GOD IS, AND OUR RELATION TO HIM. 193 

One who " ever liveth." This faith, this belief, reestab- 
lishes the union between the Creator and the creature ; 
between the visible and the invisible; between the Cre- 
ator reconciled and the sinner saved. To the unbeliever 
there is no God, no Christ, no " Spirit of Truth," no 
heaven, no hell. To the consecrated and obedient be- 
liever God is a Father, Jesus Christ is a Saviour, a per- 
sonal and ever-present Saviour, the Holy Spirit is the 
comforter, heaven is a glorious reality, and future punish- 
ment the inevitable result of sinful living. God has 
revealed himself, manifested himself, or made himself 
known. He does not hide himself in the clouds and 
darkness as he did in the past. He came down to us. 
He loved us, and sent his Son to redeem us. We can 
approach him without fear or hesitation. He invites us 
to come. He will not, he can not, deny us. He offers 
us bread. He offers us the water of life. He offers us 
all things. He will not drive us away empty. Do you 
doubt his power ? Do you doubt his willingness to save 
you? Do you doubt that he is ready to save you now? 
Do you, can you, doubt his love and mercy? See him 
weep at the grave of Lazarus. Can you longer reject 
him ? See him die on the cross. Oh ! look, he dies for 
you ! See him rise in victory from the grave. Is he 
not worthy of all honor ? We are not required to look to 
visions, dreams and angelic visitations, but to Jesus 
Christ, whose love is boundless, whose knowledge is 
unsearchable, whose authority is universal. To one 
whose heart beats in unison with every pulsation of grief 
the world over. What an ocean of thought there is in the 
assurance that "he that keepeth thee shall neither slum- 
ber nor sleep." " Unto him be glory in the Church, by 
Jesus Christ, throughout all ages, world without end." 



194 



SERMON X. 



Do you feel the weight of sin ? " Behold the Lamb 
of God which beareth away the sin of the world " (John 
i. 29). Do you seek for light? Jesus is " the light of 
the world " (John ix. 5). Are you asking for the way to 
heaven ? Jesus is " the way, the truth, and the life ,? 
(John xiv. 6). Do you feel the heavy yoke of your sin- 
ful bondage ? " If the Son, therefore, shall make you 
free, ye shall be free indeed " (John viii. 36). Do you 
tremble when you think of death and judgment ? " Per- 
fect love casteth out fear" (I. John iv. 18). Do you 
want something secure on which to stand ? " Jesus 
Christ, the same yesterday, to-day and forever" (Heb. 
xii. 18.) He does not change. He has the same sympa- 
thetic heart that he had at the bedside of suffering 
eighteen hundred years ago. He has the same power at 
this moment that he had when he commanded the raging 
waves to be still. He is just as strong now as when he 
broke the seal of the grave and arose to die no more* 
The same Saviour; loving, tender, sympathetic Saviour! 
Think! Will you look to him? Will you love him? 
Will you receive him ? Will you believe him ? Will 
you obey him ? Will you honor his name ? Will you 
live for his cause? If not, on what do you base your 
hopes for a mansion of rest in his kingdom ? 

What is the faith or belief we must have in order to 
please God? It is evidently something in man that 
takes hold of God. It is an act of the mind. It is, in 
brief, to receive Jesus Christ as the Father has revealed 
him. Faith is based upon the truth. It therefore looks 
beyond the transcient to the eternal. " While we look 
not at the things which are seen, but at the things which 
are not seen ; for the things which are seen are temporal, 
but the things which are not seen are eternal " (II. Cor. 



GOD IS, AND OUM RELATION TO HIM. 195 



iv. 18). "Now the just shall live by faith; but if any 
man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him " 
(Heb. x. 38). God speaks. I hear and accept what he 
says. This is faith. God speaks. I hear and accept a 
part, but reject the remainder. This is infidelity. God 
speaks. I hear, believe and obey what he commands. 
This is faith at work. God speaks. I hear, believe and 
obey what I like. This is infidelity — the rankest and 
meanest kind of infidelity — at work. God presents his 
Son as the only Saviour of sinners. I believe him. I 
receive him. I obey him. I receive life. I receive all 
things. I become an heir of eternal life. 

Is there more than one faith ? There is only one 
(Eph. iv. 5), according to the testimony of the Apostle 
Paul. " Till we all come into the unity of the faith, and 
of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, 
unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ" 
(Eph. iv. 13) The " one faith," is the faith that the 
Bible requires. It is living, active, real. It is confi- 
dence, reliance, trust. It is willingness, submission, obe- 
dience. It is hearty, earnest, constant. It is mental, 
consoling, immovable. Do you believe ? 

What must a man believe in order to be a Christian ; 
in order to receive the remission of sins; in order to 
enter into the kingdom of God ; in order to be an heir of 
heaven ? On what foundation must our faith rest ? 
" Other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, 
which is Uesus Christ" (I. Cor. iii. 11). Here are three 
passages to which you will do well to attend: " That 
your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but 
in the power of God" (I. Cor. ii. 5). " For the Jews 
require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom ; but we 
preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling-block* 



196 SERMON X. 

and unto the Greeks foolishness ; but unto them which 
are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of 
God, and the wisdom of God" (I. Cor. i. 22-24). <« For 
I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ; for it is the 
power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth : 
to the Jew first, and also to the Greek" (Rom. i. 16). 
Our faith stands in the power of God unto salvation. 
We are required to believe in Jesus as the Son of the 
living God (Matt. xvi. 16). Not in an imaginary Jesus, , 
a theological Jesus, nor simply an historical Jesus, but in 
a personal " friend and brother," who knows our wants 
and woes. This, of course, includes faith in God, as set 
forth in the text. Here is the foundation of the Chris- 
tian faith. God is. Jesus Christ is his Son. He has 
the keys of death and hell (Rev. i. 18). He is willing 
and able to save the world (Matt. xi. 28-30). The Em- 
manuel, " God with us," is the center of the Bible ; the 
center of all authority in heaven and in earth; the cen- 
ter of the world's hopes ; the pillar of the true religion. 
There is life in believing; not in the simple act of believ- 
ing, but in " the Christ," the truth believed. One man 
believes and is saved because he believed the truth. An- 
other man believes and is damned because he does not be- 
lieve in "the only begotten Son of God " (John iii. 18). 
The proposition is not concerning an abstruse theological 
question, but concerning a person. Is he divine ? Is he 
the Son of God ? Is he your Saviour ? There are perhaps 
many questions in the speculations of men that you can not 
settle, but you can settle this one in a moment. Do you 
love Jesus ? Are you willing to do what he requires, 
and trust him for salvation? Do you reject him? If 
you do, the speculations of the world can not save you, 
and you are condemned. You can not accept Jesus, and 



GOD IS, AND OUR RELATION TO HIM, 197 



reject bis word. You can not turn from sin and be saved 
unless you do it in his way. 

How does faith come, and what produces it ? Is it 
the act of God, or the act of men ? Is it miraculous, or 
does it come through the truth ? Does it lay hold of the 
truth, or is it the supposed direct impartation of the Holy 
Spirit? Does a man know whether or not he is a be- 
liever? If so, how? If not, why not? There is only 
one way. This can not be denied. If faith is an act of 
God, or direct gift from God, man is not responsible for 
what he does. It is not a question with him whether he 
is a believer or an unbeliever. If man can not believe, 
why does God command him to do so ? Why does God 
threaten him with eternal damnation, destruction, death, 
for failing? Is there anything in the Bible that pro- 
duces the conviction in the heart that Jesus Christ is the 
Son of the living God ? Let the truth speak for itself : 
" And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence 
of his disciples, which are not written in this book ; but 
these are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the 
Christ, the Son of God ; and that believing ye might have 
life through his name " (John xx. 30, 31). Why were these 
things written ? In order that men might believe. Believe 
what? That Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God? 
Why believe this ? In order that we may have life through 
his name. Why do we have life through his name? Be- 
cause there is no other way to life (Acts iv. 11, 12). The 
Bereans were more noble than the Thessalonians (Acts 
xvii. 11). Why were they more noble ? Because they 
searched the Scriptures daily. Why did they search the 
Scriptures? In order to see if the preaching of Paul and 
Silas was true. . What was the result? Many of them be- 
lieved. Why did they believe ? Because they found the 



198 



SERMON X. 



truth. Where did they find it? In the Scriptures. Did they 
believe any more than the revealed truth ? There is no 
evidence of it. Are you noble, like the Bereans? Do 
you receive the word with all readiness of mind ? Do 
you search the Scriptures, or simply read a chapter occa- 
sionally ? Is your faith weak ? Do you answer in the 
affirmative ? If you refuse to read the Bible there is no 
help for you. " He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my 
words, hath one that judgeth him : the word that I have 
spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day " (John 
xii. 48). Do you reject the words of Jesus? Then you 
reject him. Do you refuse to obey the truth? It will 
reject you in the last day. Will the word produce faith 
in the willing heart ? If not, how can it judge us in the 
last day? Will the Lord judge by a different standard 
from that by which he requires us to live? " So, then, 
faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God " 
(Rom. x. 17). This is clear, emphatic, and final. God 
gives us the facts and the testimony, but we must believe 
or be damned (Mark xvi. 16). 

Divine truth is the medium of communication be- 
tween man and his Redeemer/ The Lord has spoken. 
Carry the glorious news to earth's remotest bounds. 
When a man goes beyond the power of the cross he is 
beyond all power to save him. Sound out the word. 
When it falls upon the dreary wastes of the human heart, 
they become springs of living water ; deserts blossom as 
the rose, and the dumb sing. We are the custodians of the 
truth. It is our duty to preach it fully, earnestly, faith- 
fully. Let us plant the standard of the cross in every land 
beneath the circle of the sun, and, with the songs of Zion, 
following the sun and keeping company with the hours as 
they glide away into the eternal years, engirdle the earth 



GOT) IS, AXD OUR RELATION TO HIM 



199 



with the incense of the devotion of every heart, while the 
angels sound the glad anthem of the free against the 
gates of pearl and through the city of God for evermore ! 

Faith purifies the heart, expands the hope, controls 
the body, and guides the life to the glory and honor of 
God. Is it possible for a man to believe in God, in 
Christ, in the truth, with all his heart, and still have an 
impure heart, a bad heart, a wdcked heart, a rebellious 
heart? "A [good man out of the good treasure of his 
heart bringeth forth good things ; and an evil man out of 
the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things " (Matt. xii. 
35). " And put no difference between us and them, 
purifying their hearts by faith " (Acts xv. 9). "Christ 
in you, the hope of glory " (Col. i. 27). " Lie not one to 
another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his 
deeds, and put on the new man, which is renewed in 
knowledge after the image of him that created him " 
(Col. iii. 9, 10). Christ aims at the heart, the very cen- 
ter of our being. It does not create within us any new^ 
faculties, but turns those that we have already from sin- 
ful uses to the service of God. Faith makes the Bible a 
real book, mskes heaven a real place, makes sin an aw^ful 
crime against God and the cross of Christ, the source of 
redemption. It . transforms the trials of this life into a 
school of mercy to prepare us for the city of God. It 
enables us to "fight the fight of faith" (I. Tim. vi. 12) 
like Moses of old, " seeing him that is invisible " (Heb. 
xi. 27). All true worship and obedience come from 
within, and no outside observances will save you if your 
heart is wrong in the sight of God. Do you desire to do 
right ? Fill your heart wdth the tr.uth, with the gospel 
of Christ. Keep your heart clean and willing, and your 
life will easily conform itself to the requirements of 



200 



SERMON X. 



Christ, but do not depend on " faith alone," for without 
works it is dead (Jas. ii. 17). Our lives are governed by 
what we believe. If we believe the truth it is our guide. 
If we do not believe it, it can not guide us. The life of 
the Christian is the exact copy of the heart, and the heart 
is the exact product of u Christ in us " through the truth. 
Everything that is required of us, is the natural out- 
growth of our faith. Forsaking sin is an act of faith. 
Confessing Christ is an act of faith. Baptism is an act 
of faith. Godliness is an act of faith. Sobriety is an - 
act of faith. Righteousness is an act of faith. Honor- 
ing the name of Jesus Christ is an act of faith. Sending 
the gospel to the ends of the earth is an act of faith. In 
fact, the Christian life, from the obedience of faith to the 
end of life, is the result of our faith in God, in Christ, in 
the truth. The genuine believer does not hesitate to do 
his 1 whole duty, and does not compromise the gospel by 
doing only a part of what it demands. Do you believe 
in God ? Show it by your works. Do you believe in 
Christ? If so, why do you refuse to obey him? Do 
you believe the Bible ? If so, why do your practices dis- 
honor it? Are you a Christian? If so, let your light shine ! 

God sees you and knows your heart. The future lies 
before you. Where will you spend it ? Eternity ! eternity ! ! 
eternity ! ! ! See the unbeliever. He trembles on the brink 
of ruin. Look ! He drops. He is gone ! gone crashing ! ! 
gone forever ! ! ! You are drifting ! drifting ! ! drifting ! ! ! 
on and forever. Soon the surging waves will open and 
receive you, and then, too late ! too late ! ! too late ! ! ! 

" My hopes and fears 
Start up alarmed, and o'er Life's narrow verge 
Look down— on what? A fathomless abyss; 
A dread eternity ! how surely mine ! " 



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